Now, although Witherings' office had been in sequestration from 1640 till 1642, it would almost seem that he was not entirely suspended from all share in the management of the place during that period, for in writings of 1641 reference is made to services performed by Witherings in the transmission of foreign correspondence. In a letter, dated from Edinburgh 2nd November 1641, from Secretary Vane to Edward Nicholas, the latter is requested to instruct Mr. Witherings as to the forwarding of two packets, "much concerning His Majesty's service," one of which was for Hamburgh; and this Witherings was to forward by an express, which by his office he was bound to provide for and pay. In a letter from Witherings, dated at Walthamstow 7th November 1641, to Edward Nicholas, respecting these instructions, Witheringswrites: "I have sent the one express for Hamburgh with my own packet-boat, which not only carries the king's colours, but is of defence and well known on the seas. Be confident there shall be no neglect, neither of the one nor the other in me."
During the proceedings against Witherings, he was unquestionably handled in a very rough manner; for a warrant was issued in 1641 (as is supposed) by the Secretary of State to a messenger of the Chamber in the following terms:—"These are by His Majesty's command, to require and authorise you to repair to the office and house of Thomas Witherings, Postmaster for Foreign Service, and there to search for and take into custody all papers, pamphlets, and letters."
On the 5th October 1642, Robert Earl of Warwick petitioned that, in virtue of the assignment of the Inland Letter Office to him by Witherings, and in view of the factthat Burlamachi had failed to obey the ordinance delivered by Parliament, by continuing to hold and administer that office, Burlamachi should be ejected from the place and punished for his disobedience.
CHAPTER VI
Onthe 25th November 1642, "It was thought fit, and ordered by the Lords, that the said office—that is, the Inland Letter Office—shall be delivered to the Earl of Warwick or his deputies, and that Burlamachi and his deputies shall, within eight days after serving of this Order, bring in a particular account upon oath to the Earls Clare and Bolinbroke, and Lord Grey of Werke and Lord Bruce, of the profits of that office during all the time of their being in possession of the same. The lords above mentioned are to make reports to the House, that thereby the Earl of Warwick may have the profits of that office, to be paid to him by the parties aforesaid; andthe posts and their agents are hereby commanded to bring the mails, with letters, to such place as the Earl of Warwick shall appoint." Another Order, dated 2nd December 1642, was issued confirming the foregoing Order, and also giving authority to the earl, in the event of the country postmasters refusing to carry or deliver up the mails as directed, "to seize upon the mails, and to put the postmasters out of their places, until they conform themselves unto the Order of the House." It was further ordered that all colonels, captains, justices, constables, and others, His Majesty's officers, should aid and assist in the execution of this Order.
On the 9th December, the House of Lords seem to have issued a peremptory Order to Burlamachi to produce the "books of accompts for receipt of the profits of the Inland Letter Office, with the warrants and acquittances," etc. But this Burlamachineglected to do, and, in consequence of his contumacy, the House make a further Order on the 21st December to the effect "that the Sheriffs of London or their deputies shall, by virtue of this Order, seize the said books of accompts, etc., and send them to the Clerk of the Parliament on Saturday, the 24th present." The Lords at the same time confirm the previous Orders of the 25th November and 2nd December, "for that it appears that the possession of the Inland Letter Office, settled by the Order of this House on the Earl of Warwick, has been interrupted by divers refractory and obstinate persons." The Lords further give Order "that all colonels, mayors, sheriffs, and other officers shall have full power and authority to seize all mails of letters in all places, both coming in and going out, and to deliver the same to the Earl of Warwick or his deputies at his office near the Royal Exchange, London, and this Order to be their sufficient warrant."
Events were developing very rapidly at this period, for, on the 24th December 1642, Burlamachi was in custody for not bringing in the books of account already referred to, and on that date he petitions for his discharge. He was not, however, then released.
On the following day, 25th December, a brief return was made by Burlamachi of the revenue and expenditure of the Inland Letter Office, from 4th August 1640 to 25th December 1641, as follows:—Moneys received, £8363; moneys expended, £4867; balance in hand, £3496, whereof £1400 has been paid to the Secretary of State. Of the other £2000, Burlamachi states that "those that keep the office are to be considered for their pains and attendance, which are great," and he adds something about a probable increase from the Irish correspondence. On the 29th December, Burlamachi draws up a fresh petition, this time to the effect that hisaccounts may be audited by one of His Majesty's auditors, and he again prays that his liberty may be granted to him. On the 31st December, an Order is issued from the House of Lords requiring that "Philip Burlamachi shall within eight days account upon oath to John Worfield, the City Auditor, for all moneys derived from the Inland Letter Office since the sequestration, and how the same have been disposed of, upon which Mr. Worfield is to report to this House."
The precise issue of these varied proceedings cannot readily be made out; but it would seem that at this time, 1643, the Foreign Letter Office remained in possession of Witherings, and that the Inland Letter Office was handed over to the Earl of Warwick.
The period from 1642 to 1660 was one full of incident and surprises, a time when every man had to risk all by declaring himself either for the King or the Parliament, or remain, if this were possible, in passive obscurity; and, in the former case, unhappy was the man who chose the losing side. To men in positions like that of Witherings, the situation must have been most trying, for however he might strive to serve the party in power, his proceedings would be open to suspicion. And so later experience will show.
Leaving Witherings for a moment, we will refer to an officer of the Post Office who did important service for the king. This was James Hickes, one of Witherings' clerks, the only member of the staff who threw his lot in with the royal cause. When, in 1643, Charles held his Court at Oxford, he was cut off from the service of the postal system having its centre in London; and he took steps for erecting a rival post system for his own use. Hickes was ordered by warrant to "receive and demand from all postmasterson the Western and other roads obedient to His Majesty, the arrears in their hands due to the Letter Office; all refusers of the arrears to be dealt with according to their deserts." He had other directions generally, to the effect of establishing a system of posts in the West, well affected for the king, and extending south to Weymouth, from which port to Cherbourg a weekly service by packet was being set up. More complete instructions were given to Hickes on the 27th January 1644, as follows:—"Knowing your experience in the Letter Office, we hereby appoint you to reside in Weymouth, for the receiving and despatching all packets and letters coming to your hands, either from Court or any part within this kingdom,—not possessed by the rebels,—or from beyond seas, and to receive money for their port, such only excepted as are for His Majesty's service, or to tax them according to the rules of the Letter Office; as also to hire one or more passage boats as SirNicholas Crispe, our deputy, shall direct you, taking special care that all letters passing through the said port, and all passengers and goods passing in the said passage boats, be duly taken notice of by you, and all duties paid before you dismiss them, the master of the packet boat to be answerable to you for the passage money of all goods and passengers he shall take on board; and generally in this employment to demean yourself as may be most for His Majesty's service, and the just benefit of the Letter Office under us, and to observe all directions you shall receive from us and from the said Sir Nicholas Crispe, and to render a constant true weekly account of all your receipts and disbursements to Mr Thomas Nevile at Oxford. And we desire the Governor, Mayor, constable, etc., of Weymouth, to aid you therein."
Hickes is a somewhat remarkable figure in post-office history. Sometime before the Restoration he was again employed in the Post Office in London; and in a petition addressed to the king in 1666, he describes the services rendered by him during the period above mentioned. In that memorial he says that he then "carried personally His Majesty's foreign letters and packets to Oxford, with the hazard of his life"; that "in the year 1643 he was committed to prison by Corbett the traitor, and in great danger of being tried for his life by the unjust laws then practised, for holding correspondence with Mr. Secretary Nicholas in His Majesty's service, and, having with much difficulty escaped to Oxford, he was employed in several expeditions and employments of trust, by both the then Principal Secretaries of State; and settled at Weymouth to manage two packet boats, for conveyance of His Majesty's despatches to and from foreign parts, as will appear by their several commissions, and under his said Majesty's royal hand and signet; duringwhich time he exposed his wife and children to the charity of others, himself to daily dangers, and his small fortune to an utter diminution." "Corbett the traitor" referred to is no doubt one of the regicides afterwards taken in Holland, and who was hanged and quartered at Tyburn on the 19th April 1662. His full name was Miles Corbett.
About the year 1644, Thomas Witherings must have been, or considered to be, a man of a respectable estate, for, according to the proceedings of the Committee for the Advance of Money, he was, on the 18th June of that year, assessed for a contribution of £800. Now, as the assessment was based upon one-twentieth of real estate, and one-fifth of personal estate, the sum assessed represents a condition of fair wealth. The full amounts of these assessments were seldom, however, exacted, and Witherings seems to have been let off after making payments amounting to about £550.
By an Order in Parliament of 23rd February 1649, the appointment of Robert Earl of Warwick as Lord High Admiral and Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports was revoked; and on the same day, at the the Council of State, a request was made that Mr. Prideaux should come to the Council to settle stages for all the posts. From this it may be inferred that the posts also had been taken out of the Earl of Warwick's hands. Warwick's brother, Lord Holland, being dissatisfied with the proceedings of the Parliamentary party, had gone over to the King's side, and taken active service against the Parliament, on account of which it may probably have been considered unwise to continue the Earl of Warwick at the head of the Inland Posts. On the 29th March, the Council appointed Sir Henry Vane, Alderman Wilson, and Messrs. Heveningham, Holland, and Robinson to be a committee on the postal service. Things at the Post Officewere becoming very unsettled. On the 27th March, by Order of the Council, the mails were that night to be searched for the book called theNew Chains; on the 5th April instructions were issued that any person named Edward Broun, calling for letters at the post office, was to be detained; in the same month Mr. Witherings was ordered to prosecute "Wilkes" for the seditious speeches mentioned by him. The Council of State gave orders, on the 8th June, to stay all letters brought to the post, directed to Mons. de la Caille, Marchand Français, démeurant à la Haye, and to bring them to the Council. And in the following month the Council gave further orders that all letters which might be thought to contain anything prejudicial to the State should be examined. Later, complaints were made against Captain Stephen Rich, for miscarriages in the execution of his place as postmaster in not transporting the State's packets between Holyheadand Dublin. Rich, it appears, resided at Dublin, and the matter was referred for investigation to the authorities in that city. In a letter from a lady in London to her brother at Rochelle, dated 20th February 1650, the following account of the state of the posts is given:—"The jealousies of the time are great, and consequently the danger of writing; all packets are stopped, which is the reason you do not hear from me, for a high court of justice is erecting, and all intelligence with the king or his ministers is voted treason." These particulars exhibit something of the business that was proceeding in the Post Office.
In 1649, a crisis occurred in Withering's official career. On the 2nd April of that year, information was laid against him "that he had assisted Lord Goring in the late insurrection in Essex (1648), by going into arms and setting out three armed men,—one with a horse,—for which he was sequesteredin Essex." Shortly thereafter orders were issued for the seizure of all his money, plate, goods, rents, debts, and estate, and the Essex Commissioners were required to send up copies of all depositions against him. In May he petitioned to be freed from further trouble, alleging that he had always faithfully served Parliament. He had previously asked for the charge against him, and went down to the County Commissioners, who unanimously agreed that there was no cause for the seizure or sequestration of his estate. Thereupon orders were given "that he be discharged, and no further proceedings taken against him."
About this time Witherings had a serious illness, brought on, in all probability, by the worries with which he was surrounded. He thought proper now to make his will, and in the preamble he refers to his indisposition in the following terms. He states that "he was taken upon a sudden with a dizziness inhis head, and being thereupon very ill-disposed in body, yet well and perfect in memory, doth dispose, in case of mortality, his will to be," etc. Witherings was owner of the estate called "Nelmes," near Hornchurch, Essex, where was a fine old house, which still remains, and is inhabited to the present day.
In 1649, one of the packet boats plying between Holyhead and Dublin, named thePatrick, of Waterford, was taken by the Irish; but it was afterwards retaken by Capt. Fearmes, of thePresident, and restored to its owner, the salvage due to the mariners being paid by the State. In 1650, authority was given for employing a post barque for the conveyance of letters, etc., to ply between Liverpool and Carlingford or Carrickfergus. The boat proposed was the galiotRobert, and the sum to be paid for its use, £11 a month. About the same time, two post barques were settled to ply between MilfordHaven and the headquarters of the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland, to carry letters "from Attorney-General Prideaux or any other public Minister." The cost of maintaining the packet boats between Holyhead and Dublin at this period was £9, 6s. 8d. each per month. In order to keep up a constant correspondence between the forces in Ulster and the standing army, a packet boat was also ordered to ply between Ulster and Carlisle.
An important step was taken, in respect of the posts, by the Council of State, upon a paper given in by the Attorney-General, on the 14th March 1650. The Council ordered that their opinion be reported to Parliament, that, "as affairs now stand, it is safe and fit that the office of Postmaster shall be in the sole power and disposal of Parliament." On the 21st March, an Order was passed in Parliament, "that the offices of Postmasters, Inland and Foreign, ought to be in the solepower and disposal of the Parliament. That it be referred to the Council of State to consider of the offices of Postmasters, and of all the interests of those persons who claim any, how the same may be settled for the advantage and safety of the Commonwealth, and to take order for the present management thereof." Two days later, the Council of State resolved that Mr. Prideaux, the Attorney-General, should undertake the management of the Inland Posts, and to be accountable to the Commonwealth for the profits quarterly. And in further proceedings of the Council of the 5th April, Sir William Armyne was instructed to inform the House of the arrangement. Witherings would appear not to have been disturbed in his position of Postmaster for Foreign Parts at this time; for on the 9th May the Council issued a warrant to him and the other masters of the letter packet boats, "not to carry any male passengers to France orFlanders until further orders." And, again, on 10th July, the Council of State ordered Witherings to forbear paying any money to William Jessop or Benedict Moore, "to the use of the Earl of Warwick, or Lord Rich, or to Col. Charles Fleetwood, until further order."
On 29th June 1650, the Council of State issued orders to Serjeant Dendy (Serjeant-at-arms to the Council) and his assistant to make a raid upon the country mails coming to and going from London, in the following terms:—"You are to repair to some post stage twenty miles from London, on the road towards York; seize the letter mail going outward, and all other letters upon the mail rider, and present them, by one of yourselves, to Council; the other shall then ride to the next stage, and seize the mail coming inwards, and bring the letters to Council, searching all persons that ride with the mail, or any other that ridepost without warrant, and bring them before Council or the Commissioners for the examination; all officers, civil and military, to be assistants." Like orders were also given in respect of the mails on the Chester and Western roads.
The seizure of the mails was doubtless due to a desire on the part of the Council to discover such persons as might be holding correspondence with the enemy. The vigilance of the Council continued, for, on 4th December, the Deputy Governor of Dover was required to examine the master of the post barque, lately come over, as to his bringing a person who (as he had been previously informed) "was dangerous, and brought commissions and letters from the enemy." And, again, on the 13th May 1651, the Council of State gave order to the Committee of Examinations, "to inquire into the opening of Capt. Bishop's letter between England and Scotland, and to writesuch persons as they think fit for the discovery of the same. The Attorney-General to bring in a list of the persons employed as postmasters upon the several roads throughout this nation, with their character." "To write the Lord General to cause an inquiry to be made after the persons who presumed to break open some letters directed to him, and, if he finds any of them to be near the southern parts, he is to give notice thereof to Council, that they may prosecute them."
Again, on the 21st August 1651, the Council gave directions that "the packet brought in this day from the northern parts be searched before the letters be delivered out." These are specimens of the measures taken at the period in question with the view of preventing the post-office service being used in the interest of the King's party.
On the 10th March 1651, the Council ofState gave order for the revival of a Committee, which was set up the year before, to consider the business of the Foreign Post. They were to send for Mr. Witherings and "confer with him as to what money he had on hand that was formerly wont to be paid to the Earl of Warwick." It is not clear whether this inquiry had reference to any supposed irregularity on Witherings' part, or merely to the question of moneys claimed by the earl. Be this as it may, a fresh storm was soon to break over Witherings' head. In the month of June 1651, the charges of delinquency of which he had been acquitted in 1649 were levelled at him in an aggravated form. The information laid against him was to the effect "that when Oxford was a King's garrison, he compounded with delinquents, and paid moneys for them, by order of Sir Edw. Sydenham. That in the Essex insurrection he sent a man and horse to Lord Goring, and was in person at Bow Bridgewhen held by the enemy. That he was at many private meetings at the Hoope Tavern, Leadenhall Street, plotting about the revolt of Capt. Batten and the fleet (1648). That he conveyed moneys into France for the relief of Cavaliers, some of which was taken. That he concealed an annuity of £1200, and several sums due to the State which are in his custody, and paid several sums to Sir Edw. Sydenham, a delinquent, contrary to the Order of the Council of State. That he is very familiar with delinquents, stands bound for them, conceals their letters, and conveys letters and intelligence to them beyond seas." A few days later, witnesses were summoned to appear against him, including Sir Edward and Lady Sydenham. Sir Edward was a county neighbour of Witherings, residing at Gidea Hall, Hornchurch, and is said to have been a moderate Royalist. After full hearing, Witherings was finally dismissed from the charges on the25th July 1651. It is somewhat difficult to fit in all the events connected with these prosecutions owing to the conflicting dates under which they are recorded. But this much appears, that one of the processes took place before the Committee of Essex, that it continued over a period of seven months, and that Witherings carried thirty witnesses from London to Chelmsford in support of his case. Witherings tells us that Wilkes, "with the assistance of some butchers whom Witherings had sued for great sums," prosecuted him maliciously, and that Wilkes and others offered from £20 to £50 to witnesses to swear against Witherings. This man Wilkes seems to have been a troublesome fellow, for Witherings relates that "Wilkes was committed prisoner by Parliament for furnishing horses to the enemy," and that, "after his enlargement, he accused Parliament of being rogues, villains, and devils, and declared he hoped to see the destructionof them all; for which words he was indicted, by order of the Council." Witherings, in his defence, and as showing his attachment to the party then in power, makes mention of the fact that he had been "very serviceable to Parliament, contributing £1000 on the going away of the Lord-Lieutenant for Ireland." The indebtedness of the butchers, above referred to, may have had its origin in sales of cattle reared or fed on Witherings' property in Essex; or it may be that he traded in cattle, for he seems to have carried on business in a variety of ways. It is recorded of him that, about this period, he and several other merchants of London contracted with the Navy Commissioners "for the supply of provisions at London, Dover, etc., and at Kinsale, for the Navy, at the rate of 8d. a day per man at sea, and 7d. when in harbour, the State bearing all charges of transport."
Witherings did not long survive theseunsuccessful attacks of his enemies, for on the 28th September, two months after his acquittal, he was stricken down by death. He was one of the two elders of the church at Hornchurch; and on the day mentioned, being Sunday, whilst proceeding to service, he died suddenly on the way. His remains were laid under the chancel of the church, and a mural tablet was erected to his memory. This has since been removed from the chancel to the north-east side of the entrance immediately under the old tower.
The inscription upon the tablet is as follows:—
"Sacred to the Memory of Thomas Witheringe, Esqr., Chiefe Postmaster of Greate Britaine, and foreigne parts, second to none for unfathomed poilesicy, unparralled sagacius and divining Genius; witness his great correspondence in all parts of ye Christian World."Here lies interred who God from hence did call,By speedy summons, to his funerall.Upon his sacred day, the world by LoveMay judge it was to sing his praise above.When on his way unto God's house Love bringsHim swifter passage upon Angell's wingsFull spread with zeal wherein his soul doth flyTo Mercies throne in twinkling of an eye.This Epitaph may all him justly give,Who dies in Christ he dies not but to live.In Christo mori est vivere.Obiit Anno. Dni. 1651, Ætat. Suæ 55."
"Sacred to the Memory of Thomas Witheringe, Esqr., Chiefe Postmaster of Greate Britaine, and foreigne parts, second to none for unfathomed poilesicy, unparralled sagacius and divining Genius; witness his great correspondence in all parts of ye Christian World.
"Here lies interred who God from hence did call,By speedy summons, to his funerall.Upon his sacred day, the world by LoveMay judge it was to sing his praise above.When on his way unto God's house Love bringsHim swifter passage upon Angell's wingsFull spread with zeal wherein his soul doth flyTo Mercies throne in twinkling of an eye.This Epitaph may all him justly give,Who dies in Christ he dies not but to live.In Christo mori est vivere.Obiit Anno. Dni. 1651, Ætat. Suæ 55."
InMemories of Old Romford, it is stated that Witherings was a Puritan; in any case his profession in later life seems to have been that of a Protestant. It may be that the charge of being a papist in his earlier years was but a base invention of his enemies. Reference has previously been made to a suggestion that Witherings had been a mercer in London in his earlier life. We find, on inquiry, that one Thomas Witherings was admitted a member of the Mercer's Company, by redemption, on the 15th February 1625. This means that hepurchased his admission; but it does not follow that he was a mercer in the present meaning of the word.
From the conflicting statements made in regard to Witherings during the course of his official life, it is perhaps now impossible to arrive at any true estimate of his character. He lived in a troublous time, surrounded by enemies covetous of his office, and during a period of civil war, when to steer a course free from strife and collision would be impossible. He must have been a man of originality and of persevering disposition. In a negative sense, it may be said that he was no tin-plate man, devoid of stability, reflecting only the opinions of others, and capable of being cut into any shape by the scissors of expediency; he was possessed of fight and determination, and must have lived a trying and exciting life. What his pursuits or predilections were, apart from business, it is not nowpossible to determine. During his official career he was twice sequestered in his office; once he was put in prison; twice his property was seized; and twice he was declared to be, or was charged with being, a delinquent. The probabilities are that the worries and anxieties of office thrust him into his grave, for he died a comparatively young man. From the point of view of work done, he has some claim to be regarded as an early Rowland Hill; it was he who first organised the inland posts generally in Britain for the use of the public; though it is to the credit of the deputy postmasters on the road from London to the West of England, that they had anticipated Witherings by several years in setting up a horse post for the benefit of the people on that line of road. He was the forerunner of a long line of able, zealous, and accomplished men, whose lives have been spent in, and have adorned, the PostOffice for two centuries and a half, whose work has been swallowed up in the ever-advancing tide of improvement, and whose names, when their work was done, have disappeared from view and have hardly left an echo behind.
CHAPTER VII
Twodays after Witherings' death, namely, on the 30th September 1651, by Order of Parliament, a previous Order of 21st March 1650, touching the office of Postmaster, inland and foreign, was revived, and the Council of State were directed to report their opinion thereon forthwith. On the 4th October, the Committee for the Posts pass an order, "that the Committee sit in the Inner Horse Chamber on Thursday, at 2P.M., to receive the claims of all persons pretending any interest in the Foreign or Inland Letter Office, as also the propositions of any person about the improvement and management thereof." This invitation to claimants to come forward opened a very large door, as will be seen presently.
It had all along been insisted upon by Witherings that, as his patent for the office of Foreign Postmaster stood in favour of two lives,—his own and that of William Frizell,—the possession of the office was in his right (having many years before bought out Frizell), and must remain of his right so long as either of the two lived. Now, by a provision in Witherings' will, he left £300 a year to Sir David Watkins to execute the office after his death, and to maintain and educate his son Thomas until he should be of sufficient age to take his father's place. Witherings' son died about 1652, and, as a matter of fact, Sir David Watkins carried on the office of Foreign Postmaster, in favour of Witherings' son, and afterwards of his nephew, who became heir, until the 30th June 1653, when a change was made in thewhole postal arrangements, both Inland and Foreign.
In response to the invitation of the Committee for the Posts of the 4th October, the following claims were sent in, in addition to the claim of Sir David Watkins. That of Henry Robinson by deputation from Endymion and George Porter, who previously had been granted a deputation by Charles Lord Stanhope. This claim was for both offices, Inland and Foreign. That of Walter Ward, merchant, also to both offices. That of Thomas Billingsley to the Foreign Office; and that of Benedict Moore and William Jessop, on behalf of the creditors and three daughters of Robert Lord Rich, to a payment of £900 a year out of the Foreign Letter Office. A claim was also preferred by Mrs. Witherings, on behalf of herself and daughter, on the ground that a large part of her fortune had been spent in purchasing and developing theForeign Letter Service. The Council of State and various Committees had much trouble in dealing with these various claims, the legal opinions obtained upon them, which still remain, having apparently been of little use in clearing matters up. The Committees, by way of escape from their difficulties, were fain to throw up the whole business, so far as deciding the question of the claims is concerned; and, proceeding upon a resolution of the Committee on the Posts of the 7th November 1651, it was determined that "the offices should be let to farm." References continued to pass, however, between the Parliament, the Council of State, the Committee on the Posts, and the Irish and Scotch Committee; and it was not till the year 1653 that any final step was taken. In May of that year, the Committee for the Management of the Posts made certain suggestions for the future carrying on of the posts. Among thesewere, that the Inland and Foreign Posts be placed under one and the same control. That the inland rates should be as follows:—
That the Irish mails should go by way of Milford and Waterford, and Chester and Dublin; and that all letters to or from Scotland should circulate by way of Leith or Edinburgh.
That public letters—letters of Government—should be carried free. That the rental for both offices should not be less than £6300 per annum.
Soon after this time tenders were called for, in connection with which the following conditions were prescribed:—
"(1) The undertakers are to be of known integrity and good affection, and responsible in outward estate."(2) They are to carry all extraordinary despatches to or from the supreme authority, Lord-General Cromwell, the Council of State, Commissioners of Admiralty, General of the Fleet, General Officers of the Army, Army Committee, and Irish and Scotch Committee, or any person entrusted with the management of a public affair wherein private interest is not concerned."(3) All such letters by, as also those to and from, all members of the legislative power, are to be carried free from postage, provided that such as are not known by their seals have an endorsement as follows:—'These are for the service of the Commonwealth,' signed by the persons themselves or their clerks."(4) That the sum of £—— be paid by the undertakers of this business every three months."(5) They shall receive for single letters carried into Ireland, 6d.; into Scotland, 4d.;to all parts above 80 miles from London, 3d.; to all parts less remote, 2d.—with note of the difference between single, double, and triple letters."(6) That a weekly intercourse may be continued between England and Ireland, they are to maintain one or more packet boats weekly between Milford and Waterford, and between Chester and Dublin."(7) That besides the several post stages now in use, there is to be a post settled between Dover and Portsmouth, Portsmouth and Salisbury, London and Yarmouth, and Lancaster and Carlisle."The persons nominated by the undertakers for posts in their several stages, as also all other officers subordinate to them, shall be approved by persons authorized thereto by the Lord-General and the Council of State."
"(1) The undertakers are to be of known integrity and good affection, and responsible in outward estate.
"(2) They are to carry all extraordinary despatches to or from the supreme authority, Lord-General Cromwell, the Council of State, Commissioners of Admiralty, General of the Fleet, General Officers of the Army, Army Committee, and Irish and Scotch Committee, or any person entrusted with the management of a public affair wherein private interest is not concerned.
"(3) All such letters by, as also those to and from, all members of the legislative power, are to be carried free from postage, provided that such as are not known by their seals have an endorsement as follows:—'These are for the service of the Commonwealth,' signed by the persons themselves or their clerks.
"(4) That the sum of £—— be paid by the undertakers of this business every three months.
"(5) They shall receive for single letters carried into Ireland, 6d.; into Scotland, 4d.;to all parts above 80 miles from London, 3d.; to all parts less remote, 2d.—with note of the difference between single, double, and triple letters.
"(6) That a weekly intercourse may be continued between England and Ireland, they are to maintain one or more packet boats weekly between Milford and Waterford, and between Chester and Dublin.
"(7) That besides the several post stages now in use, there is to be a post settled between Dover and Portsmouth, Portsmouth and Salisbury, London and Yarmouth, and Lancaster and Carlisle.
"The persons nominated by the undertakers for posts in their several stages, as also all other officers subordinate to them, shall be approved by persons authorized thereto by the Lord-General and the Council of State."
On the 29th June 1653, offers were considered by the Posts Committee, under theforegoing specification of conditions, as follows:—
Two other offers at least had been made; but they do not seem to have been taken into serious account for certain reasons—one being, apparently, that the offerers had prescribed conditions outside the specifications set down.
No time was now lost by the Council of State. On the very next day they passed the following resolution:—"John Manley to carry all packets, public and private, inland and foreign, according to the terms agreed on between him and a Committee of Council for that purpose, and to enter on the execution of the said office to-night, and receive the profits thereof, and a warrant to be drawn for that purpose; power given him to stopall mails of letters carried by any person not authorized by him; and his office for postage of letters to be freed from all taxes." The terms agreed upon as to payment were not those in Manley's offer, but £10,000 a year.
Before proceeding further, it is necessary to revert to the year 1649. In this year the Common Council of London set up a rival post of their own on the several roads leading from London, and, as a report of Prideaux states, they "have employed a naturalScottinto the north who has gone into Scotland and hath settled postmasters (others than those for the State) on all that road." The alleged reason for this proceeding was, that the Common Council required another weekly conveyance of letters for their uses. They were pressed to come before Parliament in order that they might set forth their claim to the right of setting up an independent post, but they declined to do so. Prideaux represented that his rivals,besides "intrenching upon the rights of Parliament," would cause a decrease of his revenue; and, under these circumstances, he could not be expected to carry on the business of the Posts; for under the arrangement then existing, the "charge of all the postmasters of England were taken off the State." These representations were made by Prideaux in March 1650. The Government was more arbitrary than particular as to the strict observance of precedents in law, and the Posts of the Common Council of London were promptly put down. But shortly after Witherings' death, in 1651, a combination of men, relying upon the votes of the Parliament of 1642, under which it was declared that the Secretaries of State and Witherings had no exclusive monopoly in the carriage of letters, succeeded in setting up a system of posts in opposition to the officially recognised posts of Prideaux, and actually drove the latter from the field. The men whoconducted this campaign against Prideaux were—Clement Oxenbridge, Richard Blackwall, Francis Thomson, and William Malyn. Oxenbridge was Checkmaster to the Collector for Prize Goods (1652); Blackwall was at the same period a Collector for Prize Goods; Thomson is probably a man of the name who, in 1654, resigned his interest in Windsor Little Park and other property (of course, for a consideration), which he had purchased some time before from the State; Malyn appears to have been connected with one or other of the public offices. These men called themselves "the first undertakers for reducing letters to half the former rates." They tell us that Prideaux continued to exact the high rate of 6d. for every letter. In the account given by them of their proceedings, they say that:—"The undertakers, observing this extortive rate to be held up, as well in Witherings' lifetime as after hisdeath,—when the pretence of that illegal grant was ended in point of limitation—and observing that the whole benefit went into one private hand, ... they conceived it would be a work both acceptable to the State and beneficial to the people, to contrive the abatement of those excessive rates; and therefore, maugre all oppositions and abuses of the monopolizer and his interest, they at first dash adventured on postage at the rate of 3d. a letter beyond eighty miles, and 2d. a letter within or to eighty miles; and to make return three times weekly." The "undertakers" thus started upon their venture by reducing the minimum rate for a letter from 6d. to 2d., and by running the mails three times a week instead of once as hitherto. Prideaux tried to put down this combination by reducing his rates and establishing extra mails, but without avail; for the public were so grateful for the reform introduced by the undertakers, that theygave him no encouragement, and he was obliged eventually to give up the business. As Prideaux was written to by the Council of State about neglects on the Portsmouth Road on the 23rd May 1652, his giving up the Posts must have been subsequent to this date.
The rival concerns were carried on, as might be supposed, in a spirit of bitter antagonism, in which the deputy postmasters had their share. Prideaux's agents on one occasion murdered a mounted post riding with the opposition mail, and threw his body into a river; and near the same place a son of one of the old postmasters assaulted another of the rival messengers with a drawn sword. The account goes on to say, that "these practices not accomplishing his (Prideaux's) aim, an Order from the Council of State was procured—not to stop us or our mails, that being too apparently illegal, but in such doubtful terms as might affright the weak from sending their letters to us.Libels also were posted up and down the city by him or his agents, signifying that our mails should be stopped, but his go free. This project failing, Mr. Prideaux, out of a hypocritical pretence of keeping the Sabbath day, by his own warrant commanded his postmasters to require the justices of peace in the several counties to stop our mails on the Sabbath, whereas his own went free." ... "Whilst we were labouring amidst these difficulties, it pleased God to devolve authority on such worthy persons as had from the beginning countenanced us in our work; who, in their first entrance on their management of public affairs, intrusted us with their ordinary and extraordinary despatches." This appears to refer to the period of the breaking up of the Long Parliament, 20th April 1653, when the undertakers "were the only persons who performed the service of conveying the State's despatches."
"We continued to perform the service of the State freely, fulfilling all things concerning the postage of inland letters; we reduced the same into one channel, and entertained as many of the old postmasters as were honest and well affected, according to direction of the Council of State (which constrained us to lay aside divers of those honest persons ready to assist us in carrying on so good a work), took the old post-house in London, where three days a week the State and all persons were accommodated," etc. From this account it seems clear that the old Post system under Prideaux was ousted by the new company, and that the latter had established itself as the recognised Inland Post of the country.
On the very day on which Manley was appointed to the farm of the Posts, the 30th June 1653, he was furnished by the Council of State with a warrant as follows:—"To Clement Oxenbridge, and all othersconcerned in the inland and foreign post. John Manley having contracted for and farmed these offices, we authorize him to enter on his duties this night, to receive and carry all packets, and to receive the profits to his own use. And you are required to permit him to do this without interruption or molestation." Upon the strength of this warrant Manley proceeded to enter upon his new duties, and, as regards the Foreign Letter Office, there seems to have been no difficulty. But with the Inland Letter Office the case was very different. Up to the day when Manley was appointed, the managers of the Inland Post were hopefully negotiating with the Council of State for the farm of the Posts. Their hopes of success were, however, suddenly blighted. The account of the transactions at this time given by these men, which is somewhat amusing, is as follows:—"After we were withdrawn (from the Council), Col.Rich, after private conference with a member of Council, so represented the business that an Order within half an hour was passed by Council immediately to invest Manley with the management of the inland and foreign letters. He, that very night, without further warning, demanded the letters which we had received, and the profits of the letters then brought to us by our own servants, at our own charges. With much persuasion we prevailed with Manley that the money should be deposited into a clerk's hand intrusted by him, till the pleasure of the Council were known; yet before that could be obtained, Manley, with some old clerks and postmasters of Mr. Prideaux's company, violently with swords broke into our house, where our letters and goods were, thrust out our servants, and by force kept possession. The same night, Manley and others violently broke into the dwelling-house of some ofus in Wood Street, demanded the letters there, and would by force have broke into the room where some of us were, had we not by main strength kept the door against them; and he, with threatening speeches, required us not to receive any more letters. On complaint to Col. Rich, he, with rough words, commanded us not to meddle with receiving or sending any more letters, declaring that such was the sense of the Council's Order, and that, if we persisted, those of us who had any employment under the State should be turned out, and soldiers should be sent to our houses to stop persons bringing any letters to us. From real tenderness to the present posture of public affairs in that juncture of time we forbore contest, in expectation of justice from the supreme authority, rather than occasion disturbance." In this hustling way was the post-office business transferred to new hands.
CHAPTER VIII
TheInland and Foreign Post Offices were now combined under the management of John Manley, to whom they were farmed for a sum of £10,000 a year. This was in 1653, and the grant was limited to a period of two years. Manley was a Justice of Peace for the county of Middlesex, and is referred to in some contemporary records as Justice Manley. He made himself useful on the bench to Cromwell's party in connection with many political cases brought before him for trial. It is probable that he had previously been a soldier, as he is sometimes referred to as Captain Manley. In 1655, when Manley's term was up, the office changed hands. On the 3rd of May in that year, anOrder in Council was passed, to the effect that the management of the Post Office should be performed by John Thurloe, Secretary of State, "security being given for the payment of the present rent of £10,000 a year, and for keeping the conditions of the contract with the present farmer, etc., beginning from the expiration of Manley's contract." Manley's contract fell to expire on the 30th June following. In pursuance of this Order, Thurloe succeeded Manley in the management of the Posts.
During Thurloe's possession of the office an Act was passed for settling the postage of England, Ireland, and Scotland (June 1657). The Act sets forth that "Experience having shown that the settling a Post Office is the best means to maintain trade, convey dispatches, and discover dangerous designs, it is enacted that there shall be but one Post Office, and one Postmaster-General and Controller to settle Posts, who shall carry allletters except those sent by known carriers, or merchants' letters of advice sent by ship-masters; also, except private letters sent by messengers. He is to have the horsing of all who ride by post." The rates of postage for letters were as follows, viz.:—
For every through post, or persons riding in post, 2-1/2d. the mile for each horse, besides the guide groat for every stage.
For every through post, or persons riding in post, 2-1/2d. the mile for each horse, besides the guide groat for every stage.
All persons save the Postmaster-General or his deputies were forbidden to supply post horses on pain of a fine of £1000 a month—half to the Protector and half to the discoverer. Many other provisions are set down which need not be quoted here.
Two months later, 27th August 1657, on a report from the Committee on the Postage, it was ordered that a lease be granted of the office of Postmaster-General to Thurloe, at a rent of £10,000, to be paid quarterly; "he to be at all charges, take no greater rates of postage than expressed in the Act, and send all Government letters free: the grant to be for as many years as His Highness thinks fit, not exceeding 11, or one life."
During Thurloe's time, the Post Office was made very serviceable in the discovering of "dangerous designs"; for it is said that the control of the office gave him an "immense advantage in intercepting letters and collecting intelligence, abroad as well as at home."The truth is, that not only in Thurloe's time, but in the years immediately preceding the Restoration, during the settlement of the kingdom after the Restoration, and probably for long after that, the Post Office was regarded as the pulse of all political movements, the deputy postmasters in the country serving as a hydra-headed agency for the State—seeing, hearing, and reporting everything of importance that transpired in their districts; while the opening of letters in the Post afforded a means of securing evidence against the enemies of the ruling powers for the time being. One or two examples of how these things were done may be interesting. On the 9th August 1659, the Council approves of "Col. Crompton's stopping the Irish mail, not knowing of how dangerous consequence some of the letters might be, and judging it fit that they be perused before passing further." Then Major-General Lambert, to whom this communication isaddressed, is desired to "examine all the letters, send up any that are dangerous, and send the rest forward to Ireland." On the 9th January 1662, the postmaster of Northallerton reports to the Postmaster-General, that "four disaffected Scottish ministers,—Dunkinson, Ord, Douglas, and Jamieson,—thought to be spies and deluders of loyal subjects, are at Northallerton, and write many letters to Berwick and different parts of Yorkshire. Asks whether the letters should be received, and, if so, whether they should be opened in presence of a magistrate." These facts being communicated through Secretary Nicholas to the king, the former writes to the postmaster as follows:—"The king being acquainted with his letter to Col. Bishop, about Scottish ministers and disaffected persons now in Northallerton, and corresponding with others in Berwick and elsewhere, wishes him to carry to Sir W. Penniman, a deputy lieutenant, all lettersfrom the four ministers whom he names; to be opened, perused, and sent up to London if they contain anything prejudicial to the public peace; otherwise to be forwarded as addressed." On the 31st January 1662, a warrant was issued to the head of the Post Office "to permit John Wickham and John Hill to search the next mails from Holland for counterfeit gold, and, if any be found, to accompany them with it to Secretary Nicholas, it being reported that much base gold has lately been imported by the mails." These incidents show how the interception and perusal of letters in the post were carried out—all under sufficient authority.
There were no newspapers in these days, asweknow them, and no telegraphs; all news, except such as might be conveyed by special messengers, or clandestinely by carriers, passed in letters through the post. The possession of the office was therefore, under the conditions previously stated, of thefirst importance to the powers holding the reins of government; and as parliamentary parties, having various and conflicting political views, were constantly changing positions at this time, the control of the Post Office changed hands with almost equal frequency.
To return to John Thurloe. Thurloe was Secretary of State under both Oliver and Richard Cromwell; and, after the resignation of the latter, he continued to hold his Secretaryship till the 14th January 1660. "In April 1659, he used his utmost efforts to dissuade the Protector from dissolving the Parliament; a step which proved fatal to his authority." He had previously been "very obnoxious to the principal persons of the army, to whose interests, wherever they interfered with those of the civil government, he was a declared enemy"; and it is not improbable that this antagonism led to his being relieved of the farm of the Post Office. But his deprivation of the office of Postmaster-General and Farmer of the Post did not take place till later in the year, and under circumstances which Thurloe describes in his State Papers. In a document of February 1660, he writes:—"I humbly offer to consideration, that within less than a fortnight of the 29th Sept. last"—that is, a fortnight after—"my farm was, by virtue of an Act of Parliament dated the 11th Oct., made null and void; and the office itself, as it stood at that time, set aside; and consequently no more rent payable; and it was then lawful for any other person to set up other posts for the carrying of such letters as should be brought to them, which very many accordingly practised."
The State records during the closing period of the interregnum are very imperfect, but sufficient has been left to enable us to trace the position of affairs as relating to the Posts. Two months before the passing of the Act just mentioned,—namely, on the 8th of August,—the Council of State resolved that the Post Office should be farmed, that is, let out to some farmer other than Thurloe; but, until Thurloe should be removed, this could not be arranged.
Now, as a consequence of these proceedings, and of the Act of the 11th October, the office passed into the hands of Dr. Benjamin Worsley, to whom the farm was then granted for a term of seven years, at a rental of £20,000. This seems a large advance upon the previous rent of £10,000; but Thurloe states that he improved the office £4000 per annum to the State voluntarily, which he might have put in his own purse; and the rent he was paying when he vacated the farm must have been £14,000 a year. But Worsley did not long enjoy the position, for shortly thereafter he was "violently turned out." Worsley had been selected, as one of several persons, for nomination to Parliamentas a general officer by the Committee of Safety in July 1659. In October following, the government was in the hands of a Committee of Safety composed for the most part of officers; and Worsley being a military man, the Post Office might be supposed to be in safe hands if placed under his care.
We have been unable to discover to what family Dr. Worsley belonged. It is not improbable that he was connected by family ties with Charles Worsley, who had been one of the colonels of Cromwell's own regiment of foot. According to the Journals of the House of Commons, Benjamin Worsley was, in July 1647, appointed to be one of the Physicians, General-Surgeons, and Apothecaries of the Army in Ireland, and was then sent to Dublin. In March 1650, he was appointed Secretary to the Commissioners under the Act for regulating Trade, and, in 1653, Secretary to the Commissioners forIreland. He was then selected as a fit person to accompany Viscount Lisle, as secretary, in a projected embassy to Sweden; but the embassy, so far as Lisle was concerned, did not proceed.
Now, on the 26th December 1659, the Rump was again in the ascendant, and constituted themselves a House. On the 3rd January 1660, Parliament appointed a new Council; on the 9th January, the House of Commons resolved to take the Post Office into its own hands, and that it should "be managed for the best advantage of the Commonwealth"; on the 10th January, Thomas Scott, a member of Parliament, one of the Council of State, and a hot-headed republican, was appointed by the House of Commons "to receive informations of private and public intelligence, as the Secretary of State heretofore had and used, and present them to the Council of State"; and, a week later, he was appointed Secretary of State to theCommonwealth. Now these events, taken in connection with the fact that, on the 21st January 1660, the Council of State issued an order "to apprehend Benj. Worsley and bring him in custody before the Council," may warrant us in concluding that this is the time when Worsley was "violently turned out" of the Post Office.
In succession to Worsley, Secretary of State Scott seems to have become Postmaster-General, but his connection with the Post Office was of brief duration; for a Parliament more favourable to the Restoration commenced sitting on the 3rd March 1660, and all persons who had been active in their opposition to the Royal House began to consider what was best for their own preservation. Scott was one of the men who had signed the death-warrant of King CharlesI., and no doubt he would be forward in clearing out. That Scott was virtually Postmaster-General for a time seems to beproved by a warrant, issued by the Council of State on the 9th March 1660, "for intelligence, from the proceeds of the Post Office, paid by Wm. Scott and Isaac Dorislaus, whilst they managed it under Thomas Scott, £1000."
Like most of the Postmasters-General of these early days, Scott had an experience of imprisonment. After the Restoration he was taken; he had been excepted out of the general indemnity given by Charles II.; and on the 17th October he suffered death, with several others, in the presence of the king. Evelyn thus refers, in his diary, to the closing scene in the career of Postmaster-General Scott:—"I saw not their execution, but met their quarters, mangled and cut and reeking, as they were brought from the gallows in baskets on the hurdle. Oh! the miraculous providence of God!" So much for a royalist exclamation, and the laying of responsibility on the shoulders of Providence.For a short period after Secretary Scott quitted the Post Office, it is not very clear how it was managed; but a State paper of 3rd August 1660 shows that an account was rendered of its business from 25th March to 25th June of that year by Job Allibond and Francis Manley—the former a clerk in the office, and the latter Riding Purveyor to His Majesty. The receipts for the quarter were stated to be £5578, 9s. 5d., and the disbursements, £5431, 9s. 6d. Manley speaks of himself as being late Manager.