280 POSTING CH. XIII 



method of travelling in England and on the Con- 

 tinent ; there is an interesting description of it by 

 the Duke of Beaufort in the Badminton volume on 

 Driving. On a journey, either a private travelling 

 carriage belong-in Pf to the traveller was used, or a 

 vehicle was hired from a postmaster. In England 

 the postmasters were usually hotel-keepers, and not 

 employed by the Government, except in some cases, 

 to handle the mails, the horses being their private 

 property ; they were required, however, to have a 

 license and to put up a sign : ' Licensed to Let Post 

 Horses.' They paid a duty of three half-pence per 

 mile for each horse used, and there was an elaborate 

 system by which the toll-gate keepers checked off 

 this duty. 



The stages varied greatly in length, but the dis- 

 tances were all noted in the posting and road-books, 

 published in those days. The charges were not uni- 

 form, but were from sixpence to ninepence a mile, 

 for each horse, and sixpence for the post-boy, which 

 was paid him at the end of the stage, where he was 

 succeeded by a new boy. 



According to the Penny Cyclopadia, 1840 (Article 

 Posting), the stages at that date were from 8 to 1 2 

 miles in populous districts, and from 15 to 20 in 

 others ; the rate of speed from 8 to 9 miles an hour ; 

 and the cost of a pair, with fees and turnpikes 

 amounted to about 22 pence (44 cents) per mile, 

 so that posting with four horses, double the cost of 

 a pair, was an expensive way of travelling. The 



