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POSTING IN RUSSIA. 



THK origin of posting in Russia is as old, perhaps, as the fourteenth 

 century. At first there were no establishments for conveying travellers 

 from one place to another : and those who undertook journeys were 

 obliged to provide horses of their own, or to hire horses from the peasants 

 in the villages. As travelling became more frequent by the increase of 

 commerce, it gave rise in the villages along the highways to a branch 

 of business so profitable, that many of the peasants made it their princi- 

 pal occupation to supply travellers with horses, and in course of time 

 these peasants gradually began to form themselves into a particular class 

 or society. The villages where such peasants resided were called yam, 

 which signifies station ; and the people themselves were distinguished 

 by the appellation of Yamschtshiki. The period when this society was 

 first formed cannot be determined with certainty, but the term Yem- 

 shtshiki occurs so early as the fifteenth century. 



At the beginning of the sixteenth century there existed a tribunal 

 called Yamskoi Prikas, to which all the Yamshtshiki were subordinate, 

 and from which travelling passes were delivered. Each Yamshtshiki or 

 post-boor received an annual salary of thirty rubles, was freed from all 

 taxes, and had permission at the same time to carry on his agricultural 

 labours. On the other hand, the Yamshtshiki were bound to be ready 

 in certain villages, with a specified number of horses, for the use of the 

 tzar, and in return they received at each journey a sum under the 

 name of drink-money, which, if we reflect on the period, might be con- 

 sidered as very great. In consequence of these advantages, the number 

 of the Yamshtshiki every where increased, and the boors were anxious 

 to obtain admission into this society. Travelling also became so easy, 

 convenient, and expeditious, that this institution is mentioned in terms 

 of approbation by foreigners who at that time travelled in Russia. 



This institution, however, was not entirely of a public nature, as it 

 was destined chiefly for the tzar's court, or for persons in his service. 

 Private individuals might make use of it i but as no regular price was 

 fixed, they were obliged to enter into a new bargain with the peasants 

 at each station. In the year 1713 it first assumed the character of a 

 public establishment ; for at that period Peter the Great gave orders that 

 every traveller provided with a pass should be furnished with Yam- 

 shtshiki horses, and settled the price which was a copec per verst for 

 one horse from Petersburgh to Novogorod, and half a copec for every 

 other part in the kingdom. On all the highways Yams were established, 

 at each of which a certain number of horses were maintained. The 

 post-boors retained their common dress ; but when on service, they 

 were obliged to suspend before their breast an imperial eagle of brass. 

 Instead of the Yamskoi-Prikas, a Yamskoi Chancery was formed with 

 an office at Moskva, and the annual salaries of the Yamshtshiki were 



