ns by
which the news included in them was obtained.

At that period the post was the chief means by which news could be
collected or distributed. The newsletters were distributed by post,[254]
and the news which they contained was for the most part obtained through
the agency of the Post Office from correspondents in various parts of
the country. It was, indeed, an important part of the function of the
Post Office to furnish news to the Court, and to the other departments
of State, as well as to the general public.[255]

In 1659 General Monck appointed Henry Muddiman, a journalist who had
already issued the _Parliamentary Intelligencer_ and the _Mercurius
Publicus_, to write on behalf of the Royalist cause. In consideration of
his services he was, after the Restoration, given the privilege of free
transmission for his letters.[256] This gave him an advantage over other
journalists, and his newsletters and newsbooks became extremely popular.
In 1663, however, he was supplanted by Roger L'Estrange, a Royalist who
had not to that time been properly recompensed for his faithfulness.
L'Estrange was an able writer, who after the passing of the Licensing
Act of 1662 had been requested to draw up proposals for the regulation
of the Press. As a reward for his services in that connection he was
given the office of Surveyor of the Press, his remuneration being the
sole privilege of writing and publishing newsbooks and advertisement.
L'Estrange also secured the privilege of free postage from Lady
Chesterfield, one of the farmers of the Post Office.[257]

L'Estrange's privilege put an end to Muddiman's newsbooks, but in no way
interfered with his newsletters and his right to free postage. He was
able, therefore, to continue his newsletters, and did so with great
success. After the Restoration Muddiman had attached himself to Sir
Edward Nicholas, one of the principal Secretaries of State, and his
Under-Secretary, Joseph Williamson, from whom he had been in the habit
of obtaining part of his news. Williamson was a grasping man, who became
jealous of the success of the newswriters, and finding that L'Estrange
was unpopular, conceived the idea of getting the control of the whole
business into his own hands. He therefore suggested that Muddiman should
go to Oxford, where the Court had removed owing to the plague, and
publish a new journal in opposition to L'Estrange. While Muddiman was at
Oxford, Williamson would obtain by an agent in