Exemption from billeting was an ancient privilege of postmasters. In several of the colonies it was expressly granted, and the continental congress relieved its postmasters from all military duties. In Canada the advantages the post office was able to offer to its postmasters were small and insignificant, and one of the most valued privileges was the assurance of relief from billeting.
The postmaster of Montreal complained to Finlay that, in disregard of the understanding on which he had accepted the postmastership, an officer and his servant had been quartered upon him and he demanded their removal. Finlay, nothing doubting, laid the postmaster's letter before the governor, who, to Finlay's surprise, took exception to what he termed the extraordinary and peremptory tone of the letter, and commanded Finlay to dismiss the postmaster.[112]
To Finlay this order was a great embarrassment, as suitable postmasters were difficult to find, and, besides, the postmaster had accepted the office merely to oblige Finlay. Finlay laid these facts before the governor and pleaded for a reconsideration, but the governor was inexorable. Carleton relinquished the governorship at this time, and Finlay appealed to Haldimand, who succeeded Carleton, but with no better success.
The post office encountered the same kind of ill-will here as elsewhere from the military authorities. With the greatest vigilance on their part, much correspondence was passing backward and forward of which they could know nothing, and the suspicions natural under the circumstances were heightened by what they knew of the opinions of many of the people.
The regularity of the trips between Quebec and Montreal, which were resumed soon after the Americans had withdrawn from the country, seemed to Haldimand a source of danger. Although there was no large hostile force in the province, affairs were still unsettled, and a mail courier whose movements were known in every detail could easily be waylaid by the marauding parties which infested the long route on the banks of the St. Lawrence. Haldimand would have preferred holding the regular service in suspense until peace was obtained, depending on occasional expresses to maintain necessary communications.
During the year 1777 there was no material change in the situation. When the British occupied New York in the autumn of 1776, the monthly trips between England and New York were resumed. But the activity of the privateers was greatly increased; and while none of the packets on the New York station were taken, the "Swallow" on its way to Lisbon in February was captured by the war vessel which had carried Franklin to France,[113] and the "Weymouth," which was taking the mails from the West Indies was obliged to strike to the "Oliver Cromwell" of New London, a privateer carrying twenty guns and one hundred and fifty-three men.[114]
France, though not at war with England, saw in the revolt of the colonies an opportunity for revenge for late humiliations, and she strained the laws of neutrality to the utmost in her effort to assist the Americans. Cruisers bearing American names, but armed with French guns, and manned by French sailors ranging the channel, wrought havoc with British merchant shipping, and carried their prizes into the harbours of Normandy and Brittany.
Some regard, however, had to be paid to appearances so long as France had not actually broken with England; and it was not until the alliance between the Americans and the French was consummated in February 1778, that the hands of the French were quite free.
From that time England's position on the sea was changed greatly for the worse, and the record of the packet service was one of almost unbroken disaster. On the 15th of June the packet "Le Despencer" on her way from Falmouth to New York, was set upon by two privateers, the "Nancy" with sixteen guns and one hundred and twenty men, and another having fourteen guns and one hundred and fifteen men. After an hour's fighting, in which his vessel was disabled, the captain of the "Le Despencer" was obliged to yield to superior force.[115]
In September, the "Duke of York," on one of the North American stations, was taken by a French frigate of thirty-six guns;[116] and in the same month, the "Harriott" and the "Eagle," the one bound for New York, and the other for Carolina, both fell as prizes to the "Vengeance," a privateer of twenty guns and one hundred and ten men, belonging to Paul Jones' fleet and commanded by a Frenchman, Captain Ricot.[117]
From the year 1779 until 1782, nine packets on the several North American stations were captured, and seven were more or less seriously damaged. Some idea of the extent to which the packet service was crippled during the war of the Revolution may be gathered from the fact that of the five vessels on the New York station in 1777, four were taken and one damaged. Of the six on the West Indian station, four were taken and one damaged, and of the three on the Carolina station two were taken.[118] The importance of these facts in their influence on the outcome of the war has not so far received the attention the subject merits.
FOOTNOTES:
[86] _Pickering Papers_, vol. 39 (_Mass. Hist. Soc._).
[87] G.P.O., _Document in Record Room_.
[88] _Pickering Papers_, vol. 33.
[89] _Ibid._, vol. 53.
[90] _Journals, Continental Congress_, II. 71.
[91] _Ibid._, II. 208.
[92] Foxcroft to Todd, _C. O._ 5, vol. 135.
[93] _Am. Arch._, fourth series, VI. 1012.
[94] _Journals, Continental Congress_, III. 488.
[95] G.P.O., _American Letter-Book_, 1773-1783, p. 62.
[96] _C. O._ 5, vol. 135.
[97] _Am. Arch._, fourth series, IV. 453.
[98] _Ibid._, II. 1294.
[99] _Am. Arch._, fifth series, I. 725.
[100] Placard signed by Franklin, _Papers Cont. Cong._, no. 61, p. 121.
[101] _C. O._ 5, vol. 135.
[102] _Journals, Continental Congress_, V. 719.
[103] Finlay to Todd, _C. O._ 5, vol. 135.
[104] _The American Revolution_, by C. H. Van Tyne, p. 69.
[105] _C. O._ 5, vol. 135.
[106] _C. O._ 5, vol. 135.
[107] G.P.O., _Treasury_, IX. 298-299.
[108] _Hist. MSS. Com._, 1904, Amer., I. 70.
[109] _C. O._ 5, vols. 136 and 137; also _Can. Arch._, B. 43, p. 95 and G.P.O., _Treasury_, X. 14.
[110] _Can. Arch._, M. 230, p. 116, Art. 49.
[111] G.P.O., _Treasury_, X. 20-22.
[112] _Can. Arch._, B. series, CC. 8
[113] _C. O._ 5, vol. 134.
[114] _Ibid._, 136.
[115] _C. O._ 5, vol. 136.
[116] G.P.O., _Treasury_, IX. 345.
[117] _Ibid._
[118] _Ibid._, X. 171.
CHAPTER V
Beginnings of exclusively Canadian postal service-- Administration of Hugh Finlay--Opening of communication with England by way of Halifax--Postal convention with United States.
A point has now been reached, beyond which the sequence of events in the American post office no longer forms an integral part of the narrative.
There had, indeed, been no actual postal connection between Canada and the revolted colonies since the beginning of war. Communication between Quebec, Montreal and New York had been interrupted in May 1775 by the capture of Ticonderoga.