WHereas the Office of Post-Master General hath beén Erected by Act of Parliament in the Twelfth year of His late Majesties Reign, and the well Ordering thereof is thereby Declared to be a Matter of General Concern­ment, and of great Advantage, as well for Preservation of Trade and Commerce as otherwise: And whereas also the greatest part of the Revenue and Profits thereby arising, was by One other Act of Parliament in the Fifteenth year of His said late Majesties Reign Granted, and Assigned by His late Majesty unto Vs, by the Name of His most Entirely Beloved Brother James Duke of York, For and towards Our Maintenance and Support. And whereas by One other Act of Parliament made in the First Year of Our Reign, the Profits and Revenue of the said Office was Settled upon Vs, Our Heirs and Successors; VVhich Laws and Sta­tutes notwithstanding, several Persons for their private Lucre have lately practised, and do still continue in a secret and most Vnlawful manner to make a General Collection of Letters, and to give them Conveyance and Delivery for Hire, without any Authority from the Post-Master General, whereby not onely the Revenue arising by the said Office is Diminished, but likewise several Dangerous Correspondencies are Preserved and Maintained, and the Seditious Designs of many Evil dispo­sed Persons are very much Promoted: His Majesty therefore for the Prevention hereof in time to come, and to the end that such Persons who shall presume hereafter to Offend in like manner, may remain without all Excuse, hath thought fit by this His Roy­al Proclamation to Require and Enjoyn all His Loving Subjects, And doth hereby straitly Charge and Command all and every Per­son and Persons (other then the Post-Master General for the time being, his Deputies or Assigns) that they presume not either directly or indirectly to set up any Office, or to contrive or practise any way or means for Collecting and Receiving of Letters and Packets, or to Carry, Recarry, or Deliver the same with Speed and for Hire. And to this end His Majesty doth further Require and Command them and every of them, That they presume not to set up any Foot-Post, Horse-Post, Post or Stage-Coach, or Pac­ket-Boat for Carrying or Recarrying of Letters and Packets, or to Employ or make use of any which shall be set up for that pur­pose, other then such as shall be Licensed and Authorized by the Post-Masster General for the time being, his Deputies or Assigns. And because several Carriers, Drivers of Stage Coaches and Waggons, Haglers, Masters of Ships, Pursers, or other Mari­ners, do very often, under colour and pretence of their respective Employments, intermeddle with, and intrude upon the Office of the Post-Master General; His Majesty doth hereby more particularly and expresly Charge and Command all Carriers, That they presume not to carry any Letters, other then such as shall concern the Goods wherewith they are Charged, beyond the First Post­stage to which they shall arrive, and that they presume not to outgo their Packs or VVaggons, or deliver any Letters which they Carry, sooner or with more speed than their respective Packs or VVaggons shall arrive. And His Majesty doth in like manner Charge and Command all Drivers of Stage-Coaches, Haglers, and such like Persons, That they presume not in any kind, or up­on any pretence whatsoever, to intermeddle with the Conveyance and Delivery of any Letters as aforesaid, but that they do from time to time refuse all such Letters which shall be so tendred to them. And His Majesty doth also Command all Masters of Ships, Boursers and Mariners, That they presume not to Carry any Ship-Letters, other than the Letters of Merchants, Owners, and Masters beyond the first Post-stage to whsch they shall arrive in England, and that they do there deliver the same unto the Deputy or Deputies onely of the Post-Master General for the time being. And if any Carriers, Drivers of Stage­Coaches, Haglers, Masters of Ships, Pursers, or other Mariners shall be found carrying of Letters unlawfully, or in any other manner, they shall incur His Majesties high Displeasure, and suffer the utmost Penalty which can be Inflicted upon such as shall be found to have broken His Majesties Laws, and to be VVilful Contemners of His Royal Command; And moreover, all Letters whatsoever sent or conveyed by such Clandestine and Indirect ways, and by persons not Lawfully Authorized, shall be look't up­on as Letters of dangerous Consequence, and shall accordingly be Seized and brought to One of His Majesties Principal Secreta­ries of State, or to some One or more of the Lords of His Majesties most Honourable Privy Council, to the end the same may be Opened and Inspected, and the persons Conveying or Sending them, may be proceeded against according to Law. And for the better Execution of His Majesties Command, and as a means to Secure the Revenue arising by the said Office, His Majesty will cause such Searchers, Waiters, and other Officers to be Appointed in all convenient Places, as may be fit and proper for the Dis­covery of such Practices, and carrying such Letters, to be Seized, and such Offenders Names to be certified. And in the mean time His Majesty doth strictly Charge and Command all Mayors, Sheriffs, Iustices of Peace, Constables, Bayliffs, Searchers of His Majesties Ports, and all other His Officers and Ministers whatsoever within their several Iurisdictions and Offices from time to time, to make diligent Search for all Mails, Buggets and Bags, in any Ship, Vessel, VVaggon, Coach, or other Vn­lawful or Vnlicensed Carriage, and all such Letters which they find to be Conveyed or Carried contrary to Law, to Seize and send up to One of His Majesties Principal Secretaries of State, or to some One or more of the Lords of His Majesties Privy Coun­cil, together with the Names of the Persons Offending, to the end such further Proceeding may be had, as shall be found agree­able to the Laws and Statutes of the Realm. And that no man hereafter may complain for want of a Settled Post in or near particular By-Towns or Places lying on the Post-Road, which Complaint hath hitherto been made the Excuse or Pretence for Sending or Carrying of Letters by other Indirect and Vnlawful Conveyances. His Majesty doth hereby also Require and Command the Post-Master General for the time being, to take effectual Care for the Conveyance of all By-Letters, by Esta­blishing Correspondencies at the least Charge, and greatest Ease that may be to the Countrey, in all considerable Market­Towns with the next adjacent Post-stages; And that he cause a Map or Card thereof to be forthwith Printed, to the end that all His Majesties Subjects may know where, and to what place to address their respective Letters. And His Majesty doth further Charge and Command all and every Person or Persons, other then the Post-Master General for the time being, His Deputies, or Assigns, That they presume not to prepare or provide any Horses or Furnitures to Let to Hire, unto, or in all or any the Through­Posts, and Persons Riding Post by Commission or without, to and from all and every the Parts and Places of England, Scotland, and Ireland, where any Post-Roads are or shall be Settled and Established, unless the Post-Master General, his Deputies or As­signs shall first fail to Provide and Furnish the Person or Persons so Riding Post, with sufficient horses and Furniture within the space of Half an Hour after Demand thereof made, as they will answer the contrary at their Perils.

Given at Our Court at Windsor the Seventh day of September 1685. In the First Year of Our Reign.

GOD SAVE THE KING.