measure was forced upon them by the pressure of public opinion, which had
been enlightened by Rowland Hill's pamphlet upon the question. Hill was
the son of a Birmingham schoolmaster; and thus, like so many other
benefactors of the human race, was of comparatively humble origin. He had
thoroughly studied the question of postal reform, and his pamphlet, which
was first published in 1837, had a great effect upon the public mind.
Previous to this, indeed, several other persons had advocated the reform
of the post-office system, and notably Mr Wallace, member of parliament
for Greenock.

Before 1839, the rates of postage had been very heavy, and varied
according to the distance. From one part of London, or any other large
town, to another, the rate was 2d.; from London to Brighton, 8d.; to
Edinburgh, 1s. 1d.; and to Belfast, 1s. 4d. Some of these charges were
almost equal to the daily wages of a labouring-man.

There was considerable opposition to the new measure, especially among the
officials of the postal department. Many prominent men, too, both in and
out of parliament, were afraid it would never pay. The clever and witty
Sydney Smith spoke slightingly of it as the 'nonsensical penny postage
scheme.' In spite of the objections urged against it, however, it was
adopted by parliament in the later part of 1839, and brought into actual
operation in January 1840; and the example set by this country has since
been followed by all civilised states. Every letter was now to be
_prepaid_ by affixing the penny stamp. In this way a letter not exceeding
half-an-ounce in weight could be carried to any part of the United
Kingdom. In 1871 the rate was reduced to a penny for one ounce. The
success of this great measure is best shown by the increase of letters
delivered in Great Britain and Ireland: from 85 millions in 1839, the
number had more than doubled by 1892. Thus, at the present time, the