The Present State of London, Treatise · Chapter 5 · Section 3 · Part 17 – Part 20
This Penny-Post is thus managed.
The Principal Office to which all Accompts, &c. are daily tranſmitted, is in Lyme-ſtreet, at the Dwelling-houſe of the ſaid Mr. Dockwra, formerly the Manſion-houſe of Sir Robert Abdy K.nt.
There are ſeven Sorting-houſes, proper to the ſeve… Precincts, into which the Undertakers have divided London, Weſtminſter, and the Suburbs, ſituated at equal diſtances, for the better maintenance of mutual Correſpondence.
There are about 4 or 500 Receiving-houſes to take in Letters, where the Meſſengers call every hour, and convey them as directed; as alſo Poſt-Letters, the writing of which are much increaſed by this Accommodation, being carefully convey'd by them to the General Poſt-Office in Lombard ſtreet.
There are a great Number of Clerks and poor Citizens daily employed, as Meſſengers, to Collect, Sort, Enter, Stamp and Deliver all Letters, every Perſon entertained giving Fifty pounds ſecurity, by Bond, for his Fidelity; and is to be ſubject to the Rules and Orders, from time to time, given by the Undertakers, who oblige themſelves to make good any thing deliver'd to their Meſſengers under the value of Ten pounds, if Sealed up, and the Contents Endorſed; And theſe Meſſengers have their Wages duly paid them every Saturday night.
By theſe are convey'd Letters and Parcels, not exceeding One Pound Weight, nor Ten Pound in Value, to and from all Parts at ſeaſonable times, viz. of the Cities of London and Weſtminſter, Southwark, Redriff, Wapping, Ratcliff, Lyme-houſe, Stepney, Poplar, and Blackwall, and all other places within the weekly Bills of Mortality, as alſo to the four Towns of Hackney, Iſlington, South-Newington-Butts, and Lambeth, but to no other Towns, and the Letters to be left only at the Receiving-houſes of thoſe four Towns, for the ſaid four Towns; but if brought home to their Houſes, a Penny more in thoſe Towns; nor any Letter to be deliver'd to them in the Street, but at the Receiving-houſes.
They now do uſe Stamps to mark the hour of the Day on all Letters when ſent out from their Office to be deliver'd, by which all Perſons are to expect their Letters within one hour, (little more or leſs, from the time marked thereon, excepting ſuch Letters as are to be convey'd to the Out-Towns, and Remoteſt parts, which will be longer) by which the cauſe of delay of Letters may be eaſily diſcern'd, viz. whether it be really in the Office, or their own Servants, (or others) with whom Letters are left.
The Marks they make uſe of for this purpoſe, are theſe:
Of which the Firſt, ſignifies Eight in the Morning, the Laſt, Four in the Afternoon, and the Middlemoſt, is the Letter of the chief Office in Lyme-ſtreet, each Office having its proper Letter, and an Acknowledgment that the Penny-Post is paid, to prevent the giving of any thing at the Delivery.
All Perſons are deſired not to leave any Town-Letters after Six of the Clock in the Winter, and Seven in the Summer on Saturday Nights, becauſe the many poor Men employ'd, may have a little time to provide for their Families againſt the Lords-day, having no leiſure all the week beſides.
Upon three days at Chriſtmas, two days in Eaſter and Whitſontide, and upon the 30 of January, the Penny-Post does not go.
To the moſt Remote places Letters go four or five times of the day, to other places ſix or eight times of the day. To Inns of Court, and places of buſineſs in Town, eſpecially in Term or Parliamenttime, 10 or 12 times of the day. For better information of People where the Receiving-houſes are, there are great Numbers of Printed Tickets diſperſed from time to time amongſt the Neighborhood, and Advertiſements in the Publick Intelligences, which all concern'd may take Notice of, ſo that any body may be by the Neighborhood immediately inform'd where a Receiving-houſe is. Carriers and Stage-Coach Letters are to have Two-pence incloſed to each Carrier or Coachman, becauſe they often reject them for want of money; Hundreds of ſuch being return'd, which any Inquirer may have again upon notice, for they lie Alphabetically diſpoſed of in the chief Office for that end.
On all Poſt-Nights due Care is taken to call for, and convey to the General Poſt-houſe in Lombard-ſtreet all Poſt-Letters, whether Foreign or Inland, left in any of the Penny-Post Receiving-houſes, at or before Nine of the Clock at Night. And I could wiſh, for Encouragement of the Undertakers, that all Perſons would ſo far contribute to the continuance of this uſeful Deſign, as to ſend their Poſt-Letters by this Conveyance to the Poſt-Office in Lombard-ſtreet, which they do not Convey by themſelves, or Servants.
If any Poſt-Letters be left without Money that ſhould pay before-hand, they will be Returned to the Office, therefore ſuch as ſend Money, are to indorſe the Poſtage-money upon their Letters.
Such as incloſe Money in Town-Letters, are to Indorſe the true Sum on the Outſide, and to tye faſt and ſeal up, under a plain Impreſſion, all Parcels, which may be one way to prevent Diſputes, in caſe any thing be loſt. The Undertakers will not anſwer for any Centents unſeen, unleſs ſealed faſt, and the Value Indorſed plain to be Read.
2. Some brief Hints of the Ʋſefulneſs of this Office.
1. In and near this great and famous Emporium, is the uſual Reſidence of our Kings, the High Court of Parliament, the fixed Seats of all the Courts of Judicature, and in it is managed a vaſt Trade, as was ſhew'd in the Chapter that Treats of it; now a cheap, frequent, and ſafe way of Correſpondence, is very advantageous for all that are concerned in Commerce, or Buſineſs.
The principal Trade of London depends upon Navigation, and therefore the City and Suburbs are ſituate along the River of Thames, extending in length, as was ſhew'd, pag. 5. from Ly…ne-houſe, to the end of Tuttle-ſtreet 7500 Geometrical P…ces, that is ſeven Miles and an half; and from the end of Blackman-ſtreet, to the end of St. Leonard Shoreditch, 2500 Paces in Breadth, that is two Miles; and the whole Circumference (as by Demonſtration can be made apparent) is above 20 Miles, taking in all the Contiguous Suburbs and Weſtminſter, ſo that it is the longeſt, if not the greateſt and moſt populous City in Chriſtendom. This extraordinary Length, though it adds to its Splendor and Beauty, yet it renders ſpeedy Communication and Intercourſe in Buſineſs very uneaſie, and much more troubleſom, than in ſuch great Cities as Paris, which is almoſt of an orbicular Form. Now to keep up a neceſſary Correſpondence, the way formerly uſed, was to hire Porters at Exceſſive Rates to go on Errands, and to ſend Servants or Apprentices, who, in the mean while, loſt that time that ſhould be ſpent to learn their Trades, and benefit their Maſters, and would often loyter, and get vicious habits, and evil company, &c. (when they need not) to their own and Maſters hurt; or elſe ſuch as could not ſpare the Porter ſo much money, nor kept Servants, (as ſome poor Artificers and Labourers (have been forced to ſweat and toil, and leave their work, for, it may be, half the day, to do that which now they may perform at the eaſie rate of a Penny.
But now all theſe Inconveniences are remedied by the Penny-Post with great Safety and Celerity, for which the Contrivers really deſerve the Thanks of all who reap benefit by it; and I may be bold to ſay, that all the Inhabitants in general, and their Fellow-Citizens in particular, are already very ſenſible of the great Convenience thereof: For, among the innumerable Benefits of this Penny-Post, which, for brevity we omit, Friends may converſe with Friends, at any diſtance; Merchants, Shop-keepers and Tradeſmen with their Cuſtomers, or ſuch as deal with them; Clients may conſult with Lawyers; Patients with Doctors; Poor Priſoners with Creditors, or Benefactors; and all Bills diſperſed for Publication of any Concern; all Summons or Tickets conveyed; all Entries of Brewers to the Exciſe-Office; and many more, for One Penny.
3. The Objections I have heard of, are,
1. From ſome ſort of Porters, viz. that it hinders their Livelihood.
Anſw. (1.) 'Tis certain that this is a miſtake, for their Livelihood never depended upon going on Errands, their Buſineſs being other laborious Work, and carrying of Burdens, &c. But ſome of the Free-Porters are now in the ſervice of the Undertaking.
(2.) Moſt Buſineſs diſpatcht by this Undertaking, was formerly either not done at all, or performed by other hands, to ſave Charges, (Porters Rates being ſo dear) and Perſons themſelves, or their Servants, went on their own Errands.
(3.) If the Porters, who are an inconſiderable Number, in reſpect of the whole Inhabitants of this great City, ſhould ſuffer ſome ſmall loſs of Petty Employ by it, yet vaſt Numbers of poor People, and others, are exceedingly eaſed and beenfited thereby, which deſerve as much, or more pity, than Porters: And a general and uſeful Undertaking, ſhould not in Equity or Prudence be diſcountenanced, for the peculiar advantage of ſome few, any more than all the Pipes or Water-Conduits of the City ſhould be deſtroyed, meerly for the Accommodation of Tankard-Bearers; Printing ſuppreſſed, to accommodate Writing Clerks; Guns, for Fletchers; Navigable Rivers, for Carriers; and … Trade of Jack-ſmiths, for Turn-ſpits, &c. Nor have Porters any Authority to monopolize to themſelves the Delivery of Letters, it being by Law free for any Perſon to uſe what Conveyance they think good for their Letters, within or without the Freedom. And Coach-men, Car-men, Watermen, &c. may as well be put out of their Callings, as the Undertakers diſturb'd in this Concern, becauſe then the Porters may have more Burdens to carry. Neither is any prohibited or reſtrained by this Undertaking, but they may ſtill employ a Porter if they pleaſe, ſo that this Objection is cauſleſs, and is level'd againſt the whole Body of Inhabitants, as well as the Undertakers in particular.
2. Others alledge, That their Letters are not ſpeedily anſwered, and therefore ſay they miſcarry.
Anſw. That may be, becauſe the Party is not at home, and his Servants do not produce his Letter as he ought, though punctually left by the Penny-Post-Meſſenger (this I have very often known to be my own Caſe, and ſome of my Friends.) Or the Party may not be at leiſure, or not willing to write, or removed, or would pretend he received it not, when Dun'd for money, which he cannot, or will not pay. And indeed I am alſo inform'd, that abundance of Letters are ſo ill ſuperſcribed, or uncertainly directed, when frequently the particular Trade of the Party, the Sign, or what Noted Place is near, are omitted, that it is impoſſible to deliver ſuch, which is the fault of the Senders, and not of the Office.
To conclude this Subject. The Reader may expect hereafter a ſmall Tract by it ſelf, Printed for the Undertakers of the Penny-Post. What I have here inſe…ted being briefly Remarkt, as my own Notions, concerning ſo laudable a Deſign, by way of Specimen, and as a thing ſuitable to my preſent Work.
The Rates and Orders of Coachmen.
BY an Act of Parliament made in the Fourteenth Year of Our Soveraign Lord King CHARLES …he Second, it is appointed, That no perſon or perſons, after May 1. 1662. ſhall preſume to drive, (except Stage-Coaches) or let the Hire by the hour or day, or otherwiſe, any Hackney-Coach or Coach-Horſes within the Pariſhes compriſed within the Bills of Mortality, without an eſpecial Licenſe from the Commiſſioners appointed by His Majeſty for Licenſing and regulating Hackney-Coaches. That no Horſe, Gelding, or Mare, to be uſed with ſuch Coaches, be under 14 hands high, according to the Standard. That the Number of Coaches ſo Licenſed ſhall not exceed 400. That every Coach ſo Licenſed ſhall have a Mark of diſtinction by Figure, or otherwiſe, as the Commiſſioners ſhall think fit, to the end they may be known, if any complaint ſhall be made of them. That no perſon ſhall be Licenſed to keep more than two Coaches, which Coaches ſhall have ſeveral Figures or Marks of diſtinction, as if belonging to ſeveral perſons. That no perſon ſhall put that Figure or Mark upon his Coach which is appointed for any other, under the forfeiture of five pounds. That no perſon ſhall be Licenſed to drive or keep a Hackney-Coach, or Coach-Horſes, that uſes any other Trade or Occupation. That firſt ſuch as have been ancient Coach-men, or ſuch Coach-men as have ſuffered for their Service to His Majeſty or his Father, or the Widows of ſuch (that have Coaches of their own) be Licenſed. That the Commiſſioners forfeit one hundred pounds for every Coach they Licenſe above the Number of 400.
That no Hackney-Coach-man ſo Licenſed ſhall preſume to take for his Hire in or about the Cities of London and Weſtminster above Ten ſhillings for a day, reckoning 12 hours to the day; and by the hour, not above 18 pence for the firſt hour, and 12 pence for every hour after; nor for his Hire from any of the Inns of Courts, or thereabouts, to any part of St. James's or Weſtminſter, (except beyond Tuttle-Street) above 12 pence, and the like from the ſame places to the Inns of Court, or thereabouts; nor from the Inns of Court, or thereabouts, to the Royal Exchange, more than 12 pence; but if to the Tower, Biſhopſgate-Street, Aldgate, or places thereabouts, 18 pence; and ſo from the ſame places to the ſaid Inns of Court, as aforeſaid. That the like Rates be obſerved from or to any place, at the like diſtance with the places before-named. That if any Coach-man ſhall refuſe to go at, or exact more for his Hire than theſe Rates, he ſhall for every Offence forfeit Ten ſhillings.