The extended scheme, which was accepted in 1764, involved an entire reorganization of the postal service of the southern colonies. The colonies to the south of Virginia were separated from the colonies to the north and, with the Bahama Islands, were erected into a distinct postal division, with headquarters at Charlestown.[63]
A sufficient number of vessels were added to make a regular monthly service,[64] but in spite of this, the arrangements did not give satisfaction. The route was too long to make it possible to deliver the mails at Charlestown within a reasonable time. The postmasters general reported that letters for those parts often lay forty or fifty days in London before starting on their way.
It was then resolved to break up the connection between the mainland and the West Indies, and have a separate monthly service between Falmouth and Charlestown. To secure the greatest measure of advantage from this service a courier was sent off with the mails for Savannah and St.
Augustine as soon as they arrived at Charlestown from England.[65]
There were thus, from 1764, three lines of sailing packets running between England and the North American colonies--one to New York, another to Charlestown, and a third to the West Indies. There was but one defect in these arrangements. They did not provide connections between the several systems except through the mother country.
A letter sent from New York to Charlestown or to the West Indies had to travel across to London and back again by the first outward packet to its destination. To connect the two systems on the mainland, a courier travelled from Charlestown northward to Suffolk, Virginia, where he met with the courier from New York.
In dealing with the means for establishing communication between the mainland and the West Indies, the treasury were called upon to consider a petition from the merchants who traded to Florida. The termination of the war was followed by the withdrawal of the troops which were stationed at Pensacola, the principal trading settlement in Florida, and the merchants feared the savages would plunder their goods, if succour could not be easily obtained from the sister provinces.
The first step taken to meet the difficulty was to run a small forty-five ton vessel from Jamaica to Pensacola and on to Charlestown.
This was satisfactory as far as it went, but as it took eighty-three days to cover this route and return to Jamaica, this service had to be doubled before the people concerned were content.
FOOTNOTES:
[37] Statutes of the United Kingdom, 9 Anne, c. 10.
[38] New York did not become the headquarters of the postal system until the reconstruction of 1773.
[39] The postal rates as fixed by the act of Queen Anne were as follows: London to Jamaica, Barbadoes, 1_s._ 6_d._; to New York, 1_s._ New York, to West Indies, 4_d._; to New London or Philadelphia, 9_d._; to Boston or Portsmouth, 1_s._; to Williamsburg, Va., or Piscataway, 1_s._ 3_d._; to Charlestown, 1_s._ 6_d._; to within 60 miles, 4_d._; to within 100 miles, 6_d._ These charges were for single letters.
[40] G.P.O., _Treasury_, II. 253.
[41] Governor Spottswood to the board of trade, June 24, 1718 (_Va.
Hist. Coll._, new series, II. 280)
[42] _Journal of the House of Burgesses_, May 1718, _passim_.
[43] Douglas' _Historical and Political Summary_.
[44] G.P.O., _Treasury_, VI. 206-207.
[45] _Talcott Papers_, vol. 5.
[46] "The Ledger-Book of Benjamin Franklin," in the Boston Public Library.
[47] G.P.O., _Treasury Letter-Book_, 1760-1761, p. 96.
[48] _Works of Benjamin Franklin_ (Federal ed.), I. 256.
[49] Franklin to Todd, January 16, 1764, Smyth, _Life and Writings of Benjamin Franklin_, XII. 292.
[50] G.P.O., _General Accounts_, 1761-1770.
[51] G.P.O., _Treasury_, III. 236.
[52] G.P.O., _Treasury_ volume.
[53] Cal. Treasury Papers, 1702-1707, p. 267.
[54] _Treasury Papers_, CII. 120.
[55] G.P.O., _Treasury_, III. 127.
[56] _Cal. Treasury Books and Papers_, 1742-1745, p. 707.
[57] _C. O._ 5.
[58] _C. O._ 5, vol. 15.
[59] _Boston Evening Post_, April 28, 1755. (This note was furnished by Mr. C. W. Ernst of Boston.)
[60] _C. O._ 5, Bundle 7.
[61] G.P.O., _Treasury_, VII. 248-249.
[62] G.P.O., _Treasury_, vol. 8.
[63] The first deputy postmaster general for the southern division was Benjamin Barons, who was appointed December 19, 1764 (G.P.O., _Orders of the Board_, II. 126). He resigned on August 26, 1766, and was succeeded by Peter Delancy, who was killed in a duel with Dr. John Hale, in August 1771. His successor was George Roupell, who held office until displaced by the Revolution (G.P.O., _Orders of the Board_, 1737-1770, II.
211_b_).
[64] G.P.O., _Instructions_, pp. 16-21.
[65] G.P.O., _Treasury_, June 6, 1768.
CHAPTER III
Communications in Canada prior to the Conquest--Extension of colonial postal service to Canada--Effects of colonial discontents on post office.
Having described the several arrangements, which were made to enable the older British colonists to correspond with the mother country and with one another, we shall now turn to Canada.
In the first place an account must be given of the route pursued by the courier, who was shortly to begin regular trips between New York and Montreal. The route is the oldest in North America and the best known.
Before either Frenchman or Englishman came to America, the Indian tribes, dwelling on the stretch of land which lies between the waters running south and those running north, passed and repassed over this natural highway in the prosecution of their perpetual wars; and in the long struggle between France and England for mastery of the continent, many of the most decisive battles were fought at different places on the route.
The forts erected by each nation at the several strategic points on the route within its territory indicate their conviction that this was the ordinary course of passage from one country to the other.
A glance at the map confirms this view. From New York to the boundaries of Canada, the few miles of watershed between the Hudson and the lake Champlain systems are the only part of this long route, which could not be easily travelled by vessel. The first long stretch on the journey from New York to Montreal was that between New York and Albany. This part of the trip was made in one of the sloops, which were employed by the merchants of Albany to carry furs, lumber and grain to New York, and which usually returned to Albany empty or with a cargo of brandy, which was considered necessary in their dealings with the Indians. The trip up the river occupied about three days.
From Albany northward, there was a good road on the west side of the Hudson as far as fort Edward, which stood at the bend of the river, where it made a sharp turn to the west. At fort Edward there was a choice of routes, one leading directly north to lake George, and the other to the north-east to Wood Creek, from which there was a navigable course into lake Champlain.
The lake George route also led into lake Champlain, though the difficulties of the passage from one lake to the other subjected the traveller to the inconvenience of a portage. Lake Champlain offered an uninterrupted course to St. John's in Canada, from which point there was a pleasant trip by carriage to Laprairie, followed by a sail across the St. Lawrence to Montreal. The time taken by travellers over this route was from nine to ten days.
The population of Canada at the period when it became a British province was about seventy thousand, all of whom dwelt on the shores of the St.