The First Post-Office was established in France in 1464; in England in 1581; in Germany in 1641; although one authority attributes the authorship of the modern postal system to the Emperor Maximilian of Germany, for the purpose of facilitating an espionage over his subjects through the medium of their correspondence, and also for the purpose of enriching himself by the profits of the enterprise. The first post in America was established in New York 1719, under the Colonial Government. In 1789 the direction of the postal business of the country was conferred on Congress by the terms of the Constitution. At that time there were but 75 post-offices in the Union; in 1825 there were 5,677. At the commencement of 1859 there were 28,573.
