shment of
the post, and they accordingly proceeded to Quebec. There they met a
young Scotsman, Hugh Finlay, who offered to conduct a regular post
between Quebec and Montreal, undertaking all risks, for a commission of
20 per cent, on all revenue collected on the post,[102] and, in
addition, a monopoly of licensing persons to provide horses and
conveyances for the use of travellers--the old monopoly which had
existed for so long in England as a source of emolument to the
postmasters. Finlay contracted for the conveyance of the mail with a
number of men, to whom he made over the exclusive right of furnishing
travellers on the route. In addition to this privilege, these men, who
were styled _ma[^i]tres de poste_, were remunerated by payment at the rate
of 6d. a league (2d. a mile) for providing horses and carriages for the
couriers. Between Quebec and Montreal, a distance of 180 miles, there
were twenty-seven _ma[^i]tres de poste_ and two post offices, viz., Three
Rivers and Berthier. On the whole route, which was not of the easiest,
there was not a single inn; there were six ferries to cross, that at
Three Rivers being three miles wide, and one near Montreal nearly
three-quarters of a mile. There was a service twice a week in each
direction, and the journey occupied about forty hours, the courier who
left Quebec at five o'clock on Monday afternoon arriving at Montreal on
Wednesday morning, and the courier leaving Montreal on Thursday evening
reaching Quebec on Saturday morning.

The statutory authority for the establishment of posts in Canada, as in
other parts of North America, was section 4 of the Act of the 9th of
Anne. This Act, however, failed to prescribe for North America rates of
postage for letters passing greater distances than 100 miles. Hence, for
the post from Quebec to Montreal no legal rate was ascertainable. The
rate actually charged was 8d. for a single letter, and so in proportion
for double, treble, and ounce letters, which was not an excessive
charge, seeing that the legal charge for distances up to 100 miles was
6d. for a single letter. It proved sufficient, however; the whole scheme
was completely successful and greatly appreciated by the colonists. To
link this local post with the service from England, the
Postmasters-General at New York arranged a connecting post to run
monthly in connection with the arrival and departure of the English
packets. They realized that the number of letters likely to be