Prideaux, who was appointed attorney general to the commonwealth after
the murder of king Charles. He was a chairman of a committee in 1642
for considering what rates should be set upon inland letters[o]; and
afterwards appointed postmaster by an ordinance of both the houses[p],
in the execution of which office he first established a weekly
conveyance of letters into all parts of the nation[q]: thereby saving
to the public the charge of maintaining postmasters, to the amount of
7000_l._ _per annum_. And, his own emoluments being probably
considerable, the common council of London endeavoured to erect
another post-office in opposition to his, till checked by a resolution
of the commons[r], declaring, that the office of postmaster is and
ought to be in the sole power and disposal of the parliament. This
office was afterwards farmed by one Manley in 1654[s]. But, in 1657, a
regular post-office was erected by the authority of the protector and
his parliament, upon nearly the same model as has been ever since
adopted, with the same rates of postage as were continued till the
reign of queen Anne[t]. After the restoration a similar office, with
some improvements, was established by statute 12 Car. II. c. 35. but
the rates of letters were altered, and some farther regulations added,
by the statutes 9 Ann. c. 10. 6 Geo. I. c. 21. 26 Geo. II. c. 12. and
5 Geo. III. c. 25. and penalties were enacted, in order to confine the
carriage of letters to the public office only, except in some few
cases: a provision, which is absolutely necessary; for nothing but an
exclusive right can support an office of this sort: many rival
independent offices would only serve to ruin one another. The
privilege of letters coming free of postage, to and from members of
parliament, was claimed by the house of commons in 1660, when the
first legal settlement of the present post-office was made[u]; but
afterwards dropped[w] upon a private assurance from the crown, that
this privilege should be allowed the members[x]. And accordingly a
warrant was constantly issued to the postmaster-general[y], directing
the allowance thereof, to to [Transcriber's Note: duplicate word] the
extent of two ounces in weight: till at length it was expressly
confirmed by statute 4 Geo. III. c. 24; which adds many new
regulations, rendered necessary by the great abuses crept into the
practice of franking; whereby the annual amount of franked letters had
gradually increased, from 23