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318
The Royal Mail: Its Curiosities and Romance
·
James Wilson Hyde
27
[Illustration
(facsimile):
CAUTION
to
POST-BOYS.
By
the
Act
of
5th
of
Geo.
III.
If
any
Post-Boy,
or
Rider,
having
taken
any
of
His
Majesty's
Mails,
or
Bags
of
Letters,
under
his
Care,
to
convey
to
the
next
Post
Town
or
Stage,
shall
suffer
any
other
Person
(except
a
Guard)
to
ride
on
the
Horse
or
Carriage,
or
shall
Loiter
on
the
Road,
and
wilfully
misspend
his
Time,
so
as
to
retard
the
Arrival
of
the
said
Mails,
or
Bags
of
Letters,
at
the
next
Post
Town
or
Stage.--Every
such
Offender
shall,
on
Conviction
before
One
Justice,
be
committed
to
the
House
of
Correction,
and
confined
to
hard
Labour
for
one
Month.
All
Post-Boys
and
Riders
are
therefore
desired
to
take
Notice
of
this,
and
are
hereby
cautioned
not
to
fail
in
the
regular
Performance
of
their
Duty,
otherwise
they
will
most
assuredly
be
punished
as
the
Law
directs.
And
it
is
hoped
and
requested,
for
the
Benefit
of
public
Correspondence,
that
all
Persons,
who
may
observe
any
Post-Boy
or
Rider,
offending
as
aforesaid,
will
give
immediate
Notice
to
Surveyor
of
the
General
Post-Office,
Johnson
Williamson
(About
1792)]
Many
of
the
troubles
which
the
Post-office
had
with
its
postboys
may
possibly
be
ascribed
to
the
low
rate
of
wages
paid
by
the
contractors
for
their
services.
This
matter
is
referred
to
by
the
Solicitor
to
the
Scotch
Post-office,
who
was
engaged
upon
an
inquiry
into
the
robbery
of
the
mail
on
the
stage
between
Dingwall
and
Tain
in
the
year
1805.
The
distance
between
these
places
is
about
twenty-five
miles,
and
five
hours
were
occupied
in
making
the
journey.
One
of
the
postboys
concerned
stated
in
his
declaration
that
his
whole
wages
were
5s.
a-week;
and
with
reference
to
this,
the
solicitor
in
his
report
observes
as
follows:
"Of
course
it
may
fairly
be
presumed
that
no
respectable
man
will
be
got
to
perform
this
duty.
Dismission
to
such
a
man
for
committing
a
fault
is
no
punishment;
and
the
safety
of
the
conveyance
of
the
mail,
which
the
public
have
a
right
to
require,
seems
to
render
some
regulation
in
this
respect
necessary."
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