Page:A short history of social life in England.djvu/375

Rh rapidly decreasing number is one of the greatest events of modern civilisation—the institution of the Penny Post in 1840. It was a curious fact that, though the population had increased so enormously—six millions in twenty years—yet the postal receipts had actually diminished between the years 1815 and 1835. The recipient and not the writer paid the postage, and a letter with seal unbroken, returned to the postman at the door, often betokened a poverty which could not afford to pay for news of absent relations. The story told by Coleridge, and repeated in every modern history of the period, illustrates the condition of postal arrangements at this time, when distance rather than weight augmented the price of a letter, which varied from 4d. to 1s. 8d.—a serious outlay to business men. Means of transit, though improving, were still defective, and accomplished by horses and mail-coaches, as they had been since 1783. It was only under favourable circumstances that a letter from London reached Hampstead in ten hours! Rowland Hill, in his famous pamphlet, published in 1837, called attention to the difficulty of carrying on trade with such expense and delay in the postal service. And the inauguration of the Penny Post throughout