Description:

Riders Post


Post riders - an important American silk regarding post rider mail delivery, with Jewish content and incredible graphics: "The Jews, who, are in this country are as free as Christians…"


1829 broadside on ivory silk cloth printed by William Wooddy of Baltimore, Maryland. Featuring an illustration of a boisterous horse-drawn carriage at top above several sizes and styles of typeface. Beneath the 6 lines of bold headline, 14 paragraphs of dense text appear in 3 columns, each column separated by a thin rule. The text and illustration are enclosed within a wide ornamental border of Neo-Classical motifs. The 15.625" x 20.25" silk with .5" fringe is backed with linen, and framed in a floating mount behind glass in an ebonized frame, actual size 17.875" x 22.5". Not examined out of frame.


In near perfect condition. Some light fraying to margins, a few isolated minor stains, and one pinhole-sized spot affecting a letter or two of text. A bright clean example of a rare broadside, excellent for exhibition. Several other versions of this broadside exist; however, we were unable to find another example from this printer on OCLC, in "Early American Imprints", or in "Threads of History", and none of the comparable examples mention the illustration of a mail coach. We can locate only one other offered by a reputable bookseller for $5,000!


This "Report of the Committee of the Senate of the United States, with which the Senate concurred, January 20, 1829 … to which had been referred various petitions remonstrating against the Transportation and Delivery of the Mails on the Sabbath" determined that mail would be delivered regardless of holidays.


The subject of mail delivery on Sundays was hotly debated in Congress for nearly twenty years, as the post office handled and carried mail seven days a week between 1810-1830. Petitions by various religious groups requested that such work on Sundays be terminated. The text of this Senate report is a distillation of the controversy, and clearly takes the committee's opinion that a congressional act halting mail delivery on the Sabbath for religious reasons would be contrary to the principles of the Constitution.


The broadside reads in part:


"We are aware that a variety of sentiment exists among the good citizens of this nation, on the subject of the Sabbath day; and our government is designed for the protection of one as much as for another. The Jews, who, in this country are as free as Christians, and entitled to the same protection for the laws, derive their obligation to keep the Sabbath day [on Saturday] … With these different religious views, the committee are of the opinion that Congress cannot interfere … Our government is a civil, and not a religious institution … The transportation of the mail on the first day of the week, it is believed, does not interfere with the rights of conscience. The petitioners for its discontinuance appear to be actuated by a religious zeal which may be commendable, if confined to its proper sphere; but they assume a position better suited to an ecclesiastical than to a civil institution. They appear, in many instances to lay it down as an axiom, that the practice is a violation of the law of God. Should Congress, in their legislative capacity, adopt the sentiment, it would establish the principle, that the Legislature is a proper tribunal to determine what are the laws of God. It would involve a legislative decision in a religious controversy; and on a point in which good citizens may honestly differ in opinion, without disturbing the peace of society, or endangering its liberties. If this principle is once introduced, it will be impossible to define its bounds. Among the religious persecutions with which almost every page of modern history is stained, no victim ever suffered, but for the violation of what government denominated the law of God. To prevent a similar train of evils in this country, the Constitution has wisely withheld from our government the power of defining the Divine Law. It is a right reserved to each citizen; and while he respects the rights of others, he cannot be held amenable to any human tribunal for his conclusions."


The head of the Committee on Post Office and Post Roads in the Senate, Richard Mentor Johnson (1780-1850) of Kentucky, was praised for this landmark report; he was later nominated as Martin Van Buren's vice presidential running mate. Sunday mail delivery continued until after the Civil War, when rapid delivery of news became more a function of modern technology than seven-day-a-week diligence.


The printer William Wooddy (ca.1788-1863) was active as  in Maryland from about 1817. Wooddy's obituary, which appeared in the Baltimore Daily Gazette on August 26, 1863, reported that the War of 1812 veteran had been a lieutenant in the Maryland militia.


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