a courier or letter-carrier; or one who frequently changes horses, posted or placed on the road, for quicker dispatch.
We find mention made of post-horses in the Theodosian Code, De cursu publico; but there were very different from the present establishment, and were only public horses first appointed by Trajan, till whose time the messengers seized any horses that came in their way.
Lewis Hornigk has an express treatise on post, whereof he makes four kinds: viz. on horseback, in chariots, in boats, and on foot; which last kind is in use in Italy, Turkey, and Peru.
Herodotus ascribes the origin of posts to Cyrus; Xerxes; but the posts instituted by those princes were no more than couriers.
In effect, posts on the present footing are but a modern invention; though some go back as high as Charlemagne.—It is certain it was the policy, or rather the dissidence, of Louis XI. of France that they owed their rise to; that uneasy prince first settling them by an ordonnance of the 19th of June 1464, to be the sooner, and the more surely, advertised of what passed in his own kingdom, and in the neighbouring states. From France, the institution propagated itself, by degrees, through the several other parts of Europe. In Germany, Hornigk observes, posts were first settled by the count de Taxis at his own expense; in acknowledgment whereof, the emperor Matthias, in 1716, gave him, in fief, the charge of post-master under him and his successors.
The duty for the carriage of letters by post in Britain, forms a branch of the Revenue.
This useful invention owes its first legislative establishment in England to the parliament 1643. It is true, there existed post-masters in much earlier times: but their business was confined to the furnishing of post-horses to persons who were desirous to travel expeditiously, and to the dispatching of extraordinary pacquets upon special occasions. King James I. originally erected a post-office under the control of one Matthew de Queller or de l'Equerre for the conveyance of letters to and from foreign parts; which office was afterwards claimed by lord Stanhope, but was confirmed and continued to William Frizell and Thomas Witherings by king Charles I. A.D. 1632, for the better accommodation of the English merchants. In 1635, the same prince erected a letter-office for England and Scotland, under the direction of the same Thomas Witherings, and settled certain rates of postage. But this extended only to a few of the principal roads, the times of carriage were uncertain, and the post-masters on each road were required to furnish him with horses at the rate of £4.d. a mile. Witherings was superseded, for abuses in the execution of both his offices, in 1640; and they were sequestrated into the hands of Philip Borslemachy, to be exercised under the care and oversight of the king's principal secretary of state. On the breaking out of the civil war, great confusions and interruptions were necessarily occasioned in the conduct of the letter-office. And, about that time, the outline of the present more extended and regular plan seems to have been conceived by Mr Edmond Prideaux, who was appointed attorney-general to the commonwealth after the murder of king Charles. He was chairman of a committee in 1642, for considering what should be set upon inland letters; and afterwards appointed post-master by an ordonnance of both the houses, in the execution of which office he first established a weekly conveyance of letters into all parts of the nation; thereby having to the public the charge of maintaining postmasters, to the amount of 7000 l. per annum. And, his own emoluments being probably very considerable, the common council of London endeavoured to erect another post-office in opposition to his; till checked by a resolution of the commons, declaring, "that the office of post-master is, and ought to be, in the sole power and disposal of the parliament. This office was afterwards farmed by one Manley in 1654. But, in 1657, a regular post-office was erected by the authority of the protector and his parliament, upon nearly the same model as has been ever since adopted, with the same rates of postage as were continued till the reign of queen Anne. After the restoration, a similar office, with some improvements, was established by statute 12 Car. II. c. 35, but the rates of letters were altered, and some farther regulations added, by the statutes 9 Ann. c. 10. 6 Geo. I. c. 21. 26 Geo. II. c. 12. 5 Geo. III. c. 25. &c. Geo. III. c. 50. and penalties were enacted, in order to confine the carriage of letters to the public office only, except in some few cases: a provision, which is absolutely necessary; for nothing but an exclusive right can support an office of this sort: many rival independent offices would only serve to ruin one another.
war, any fort of ground, fortified or not, where a body of men can be in a condition of resisting the enemy.
Advanced Post, a spot of ground, seized by a party to secure their front and the posts behind them.
Post of Honour. The advanced guard is a post of honour: the right of the two lines is the post of honour, and is always given to the eldest regiment: the left is the next post, and is given to the next eldest, and so on. The centre of the lines is the post the least honourable, and is given to the youngest regiments. A centinel placed before the colours, and at the door of the commanding officer, is a post of honour.
Penny-Post, a post established for the benefit of London and the adjacent parts; by which any letter or parcel not exceeding 16 ounces weight, is speedily conveyed to and from all parts within ten miles of London.