Page:The life and letters of Sir John Henniker Heaton bt. (IA lifelettersofsi00port).pdf/254

 and Christmas time invariably brought forth a sheaf of good wishes from all parts of the world, signed variously: "A mother with sons abroad," "A working man and his friends," "An exile in Canada," etc. etc. If the writers should ever read this they will know how greatly H. H. appreciated these letters of thanks from his unknown correspondents.

The following letter, which was printed in "The Times," brought forth the general opinion that it was more valuable as an argument for Penny Postage than all the statistics in the world:

To Mr Henniker Heaton,

It may seem a liberty to write to you, but I feel I must, and congratulate you on the Penny Postage to Australia. We ail have much to thank you for. My niece brought me five letters by the mail a fortnight ago, saying, "Why, aunty, here are five letters, all for you, and from home." "Well," I said, "there is something wrong," but no, it was all right, all carried penny stamps, and at last we have the penny postage. Such a treat—five letters—one in three months was about the average. You know a Scotchman loves his pennies.

The life of a Postal reformer is not an easy one, but it was undoubtedly brightened from time to time by little episodes that were not without humour.

A cable was sent by the late Rev. Henry Montague