In the treatment of a subject so complex as the history of the British Post Office it is not easy to decide how far its presentation should be strictly chronological or how far it should be mounted in "longitudinal sections," exposing its most salient features. Both methods have their advantages and their disadvantages. In order to obtain what is useful in both, I have described chronologically in the first four chapters the progress of the Post Office, while in the remaining chapters I have examined separately some of the more important aspects of postal development. But I am aware that by this compromise I have not entirely escaped the dangers of abrupt transitions from subject to subject and of the accumulation of dry details. I can only plead in extenuation, in the first place the nature of my subject, an institution with a long and varied history, characterized by the steady extension of its field of activity, and in the second place my desire to make my study as thorough as possible, even at the risk of some sacrifice of unity and interest of treatment. The material for this sketch has been obtained from the Harvard University Library, the Boston Public Library, and the Canadian Parliamentary Library. Work was also done in the Library of the British Museum. I wish to acknowledge the help I have received from the advice and criticism of Professor Gay, under whose supervision the larger part of this history was prepared. J. C. HEMMEON. CONTENTS CHAPTER I THE POSTAL ESTABLISHMENT SUPPORTED DIRECTLY BY THE STATE--PRIOR TO 1635 3 Methods of postal communication in vogue before the establishment of the Post Office. The first Postmaster-General and his duties. Alternative systems. The posts in Elizabeth's reign. Appointment of a Foreign Postmaster-General. Rivalry between the two Postmasters-General. Witherings as Foreign Postmaster-General. CHAPTER II THE POSTAL ESTABLISHMENT A SOURCE OF REVENUE TO THE STATE--1635-1711 13 Condition of the postal establishment at the beginning of the seventeenth century. Witherings' project adopted. Disturbance produced in the Post Office by the struggle between the two Houses of Parliament. Rival claimants for the office of Postmaster-General. The Civil War and its effects upon the Post Office. The Post Office during the Commonwealth. Farming of the Post Office. Complaints about the delivery of letters after the Restoration. Condition of the postal establishment at the close of the seventeenth century. Dockwra's London Penny Post. Extension of the foreign postal service. Conditions in Ireland, Scotland, and the American Colonies. CHAPTER III THE POSTAL ESTABLISHMENT AN INSTRUMENT OF TAXATION--1711-1840 34