Postage

of Letters. In the British service, non-commi ioned officers and private soldiers are privileged to send or receive letters, from any part of that country on payment of one penny only for the postage. In the instructions to postmasters, (Feb. 4th, 1799,) concerning the exemptions granted to seamen in the navy, and privates in the army, in respect to the postage of their letters, it is specified, that “No single letter, sent by the post from any seaman or private employed in his majesty’s navy, army, militia, fencible regiments, artillery, or marines, shall, whilst such seamen or private shall be employed on his majesty’s service, and not otherwise, be charged with an higher rate of postage than the sum of one penny for the conveyance of each such letter; such postage to be paid at the time of putting the same into the post office of the town, or place from whence such letter is intended to be sent by the post. “Provided, that no such letter shall be exempted from postage, unle there shall be written thereon, in the hand-writing of, and signed by the commanding officer, for the time being, of the ship or ve el, or of the corps, regiment, or detachment to which such seamen or private shall belong, the name of such commanding officer, and of the ship, ve el, corps, regiment, or detachment commanded by him. “No single letter, directed to any such seamen, or private, upon his own private concerns, only whilst such seaman, or private, shall be employed on his majesty’s service, and not otherwise, shall be charged with a higher rate of postage than one penny for each such letter, which penny shall be paid at the time of the delivery thereof. “Provided, that no such letter shall be exempted from the rates of postage chargeable upon letters, unle any such letter shall be directed to such seaman, or private, specifying the ship, ve el, regiment, troop, corps, company, or detachment to which he may belong: and provided also, that it shall not be lawful for the deputy postmaster of the town or place to which such letter shall be sent to be delivered, to deliver such letter to any person except to the seamen or private to whom such letter shall be directed, or to any person appointed to receive the same by the commanding officer of the ship, . to which the seaman, or private to whom such letter shall be directed, shall belong. “The exemptions do not extend to letters sent to or received from countries independent of England: they do extend to the West India Islands and British America. “All postmasters are desired to take particular notice that double letters to and from soldiers and sailors and their families, are liable to the full double rates, the same as letters in general; and some postmasters having conceived that letters containing money orders might pa under the exemptions of the act, they are desired to understand, that such letters are chargeable with full double rates also. “Recruiting serjeants, who may carry on a correspondence with their officers on the recruiting service, cannot send or receive their letters on that service under the exemptions granted by this act. “The above exemptions granted by the legislature do not extend in the navy to any other than seaman, and not to officers of any description whatever; and in the army, only the privates, with serjeants and serjeant-majors are included. Many officers, both in the army and navy, having construed the act to extend to their own correspondence, it is hereby publicly stated that such a construction is altogether inapplicable.” The act in its literal meaning includes in this indulgence all non-commi ioned officers, although they are excluded by this official interpretation. According to a letter i ued from the post office, dated the 18th Sept, 1799, to all postmasters, in addition to the rates above-mentioned, these letters are chargeable with inland postage to and from London, excepting single letters to and from soldiers and sailors, and it is to be left to the opinion of the writers to pay the postage or not on putting them into any post office.