Page 242 - British Post Office Notices 1666 to 1799

Act of 9 Queen Anne, Cap. 10

other her Majesty's Dominions; any Act or Acts of Parliament in either of the said united Kingdoms at any Time heretofore
made to the contrary thereof in any wise notwithstanding.

XXVI. Provided also, and be it enacted by the Authority aforesaid, That a Letter or Packet Post shall twice every
Week come by the Way of Trurow and Penrin to the Town of Penzance, in the County of Cornwall; and once a Week to
Kendall, by the Way of Lancaster, and to the Town of Penrith in Cumberland, by the Way of Newcastle and Carlisle; and to
the City of Lincoln and the Borough of Grimsby, in the County of Lincoln; any Thing in this Act contained to the contrary
thereof in any wise notwithstanding.
XXVII. And for the better Management of the said Post Office, and that the People of these Kingdoms may have
their Intercourse of Commerce and Trade the better maintained, and their Letters and Advices conveyed, carried and
recarried with the greatest Speed, Security and Conveniency that may be; Be it further enacted by the Authority aforesaid,
That the said Postmaster General so nominated, appointed and constituted as aforesaid, and his Deputies, shall, from Time
to Time, observe and follow such Orders, Rules, Directions and Instructions for and concerning the Settlement of Posts,
and Stages upon the several Roads in Great Britain and Ireland, and other her Majesty's Dominions, and the providing and
keeping a sufficient Number of Horses at the several Stages, as well for the carrying and conveying the said Letters and
Packets, as for the horsing of all Persons riding in Post by Warrant, or otherwise as aforesaid, as her Majesty, her Heirs and
Successors, shall, from Time to Time, in that Behalf make and ordain.
XXVIII. Provided always, and be it enacted by the Authority aforesaid, That no Person or Persons shall have Power
to take, use or seize any Horses for the Services mentioned in this Act, without the Consent of the Owner or Owners
thereof; any Law, Statute, Usage or Custom to the contrary thereof in any wise notwithstanding.
XXIX. "And forasmuch as the Post must necessarily pass several Ferries in North America, in which the Ferrymen
give great Delays, and sometimes have endeavoured to exact Money from them, notwithstanding the same have always
been free for the Post;" Be it therefore enacted by the Authority aforesaid, That no Deputy or Agent of such Postmaster
General, travelling with any Mail of Letters, shall pay any Thing for passing or repassing any Ferry within any of the
Colonies or Plantations of her said Majesty in North America aforesaid; but such Ferrymen shall forthwith, within one half
Hour after Demand, convey such Deputies, on Pain of forfeiting for every Offence the Sum of five Pounds, to be recovered
in any Court of Record within any of the Provinces or Colonies in North America, by Bill, Plaint or Information, wherein no
Essoin, Protection, or Wager of Law shall be allowed; one Moiety thereof to her Majesty, her Heirs and Successors,
towards the Support of the Government of the said Provinces, and the contingent Charges thereof; and the other Moiety to
the Postmaster General, who shall sue and prosecute for the same, together with full Costs of Suit.
XXX. "And whereas many Persons having received their Letters, refuse to pay for the same, or often run in Debt for
the Postage of their Letters, or having received some small Sum for the Port of Letters, which Sums being very small in
Particulars, are properly to be recovered in a summary Way;" Be it therefore enacted by the Authority aforesaid, That all
Sum and Sums of Money, not exceeding five Pounds, that now is or shall be due from any Person or Persons for Letters or
Packets, or any Letter or Packet, to them delivered by any Deputy or Deputies of such Postmaster General, or which now
is, or shall be due from any Person or Persons for the Port of Letters or Packets to them delivered by any Deputy or Agent
of such Postmaster General, not exceeding the said Value, or which have been or shall be received for the Port of Letters,
not exceeding the same Value, without answering or paying the Monies so due and owing to the Receiver General of the
said Revenues for her Majesty's Use, shall be recovered before Justices of the Peace, in the same Manner, and under the
same Rules, as small Tithes are, by the Laws of England, to be recovered; and such Debt or Sums of Money shall be
preferable in Payment by the Person owing the same, or from whose Estate the same is or shall be due, before any Debt of
any Sort to any private Person whomsoever.

XXXI. And be it further enacted by the Authority aforesaid, That all Inland Letters sent by any Packet Post
established by this Act as aforesaid, do and shall pay the Rates and Prices before mentioned at such Stages at which they
are last delivered only, unless the Party that doth put in the Letters desireth to pay elsewhere, and unless any such Letters
are directed on board any Ship or Vessel, or to any Person in the Army, or are sent by the Penny Post, and unless they be
Letters or Packets going out of Great Britain, which have usually paid the Rates in England; any Thing in this Act contained
to the contrary thereof in any wise notwithstanding.
XXXII. Provided always, That this Act, or any Thing therein contained, shall not in any wise be prejudicial to the
Privileges of the two Universities of Oxford and Cambridge, or either of them, or to the Chancellors or Scholars of the same
or their Successors, but that they may use and enjoy such Privileges as heretofore they have lawfully used and enjoyed, and

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