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1
435
Her Majesty's Mails
·
William Lewins
126
By
the
statute
of
Queen
Anne,
letters
might
be
brought
from
abroad
by
private
ships
under
certain
distinctly-specified
regulations.
On
the
contrary,
no
law
existed
enabling
the
Postmaster-General
to
send
bags
of
letters
by
the
same
medium
until
1799,
when
an
Act
was
passed
with
this
object.
Masters
of
such
ships
refusing
to
take
bags
were
subjected
to
heavy
penalties.[71]
The
postage
of
letters
so
sent
(on
account
of
the
slowness
of
transit
in
the
majority
of
cases)
was
fixed
at
half
the
usual
rates.
This
Act
is
the
foundation
of
the
ship-letter
system,
by
means
of
which,
besides
the
regular
packet
communication,
letters
are
forwarded
to
all
parts
of
the
world.
At
the
same
period
the
Government
rigorously
adhered
to
the
law
as
laid
down
with
regard
to
letters
brought
by
private
vessels.
A
case
was
tried
in
1806
in
the
Court
of
King's
Bench--"King
v.
Wilson"--in
which
the
defendant--a
merchant
who
had
had
letters
brought
from
the
Continent
in
a
ship
of
his
own,
and
pleaded
that
he
had
a
right
to
do
so--was
cast
in
heavy
damages,
and
told
that
"all
and
every
such
letters,
as
well
as
others,"
must
pass
through
the
Post-Office
in
the
usual
way.
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