Page:Blackwood's Magazine volume 137.djvu/625

1885.] have been organised in the reign of the Emperor Maximilian by the Princes of the house of Thurn and Taxis. At all events, at the present time that family enjoys certain privileges in consequence of the services they have rendered to the postal department.

It is in this country, where manufactures flourished, and the British flag was seen flying in the most distant seas, that the importance of intercommunication was most felt. The rise and progress of this vast agent of commerce and civilisation cannot fail to be interesting to a large class of readers, who will derive a large amount of valuable and amusing information from two works of great merit; the one entitled 'The Royal Mail,' a new publication, which stands at the head of this article – and the other 'Her Majesty's Mails,' by William Lewins, published in 1864, in which the history of the rise of the Post-office is told from its earliest commencement. It seems that the establishment of a regular riding-post dates from Edward IV.; but private letters were sent by special messengers, called nuncii, so far back as the time of Edward II. In general, these nuncii were employed in the Government service. The first recognised head of the Post-office as a Government department dates from Henry VIII. The rebel lords, who played so conspicuous a part in his reign, improved on the royal posts, and had regular messengers employed between Hull and York, York and Durham, Durham and Newcastle. By the 2 & 3 Edward VI., a charge of one penny per mile was fixed on all horses used by the post-riders. In the reign of Queen Elizabeth, the expenses of the Post-office amounted to £6000 a-year. This was classed under the. ad of the "wages and entertainment of the ordinary post." The post-road from London to Berwick followed exactly the line of the present Great North Road. At this time there was a post from London to Ireland, viâ Holyhead; one to Bristol, and to Dover. Occasionally there were extraordinary posts, especially when any unwelcome news arrived from France, "for the speedy advertisement of the same." In the early part of the Queen's reign, the Flemings, who were driven out of Flanders by the persecutions of Alva and Philip II., were permitted to have a post of their own. Some time after, they claimed, says Stowe, the right of having their own postmaster. This claim was not, however, long recognised, and Thomas Randolph was appointed the first Postmaster of the English and foreign offices.

Under the Tudor dynasty a new social era dawned on England, and with that came the rapid extension of the postal service: this again led to the progress of ideas, as intelligence was more speedily spread through the country. Crabbe tells us –

"'A master-passion is the love of news.'"

The "ἔσται το νεον;" is a query not limited to the Athenian, or to any clime or age. Until the age of Queen Bess, remote villages were ignorant even of the most important events which occurred in the metropolis. Perhaps such ignorance was bliss, and they were happier in their isolation; but when once the Government couriers were introduced, although they were not the bearers of private letters, their advent into the village was a great event. The travelling pedlars, with their packs of goods and news, now lost much of their importance. It was only at the close of the Queen's reign that the riding couriers were superseded by