Page:The life and letters of Sir John Henniker Heaton bt. (IA lifelettersofsi00port).pdf/259



N his writing-table H. H. kept three envelopes. The first bore a sixpenny Australian stamp for a letter weighing less than a third of an ounce, addressed to him in England from Sydney, New South Wales, in April, 1885; the second bore a penny stamp, addressed by H. H. in London to Lord Northcote, Governor-General of Australia, on the 1st April, 1905 and the third bore a penny stamp, dated 1st May, 1911, posted in Melbourne, Victoria, and addressed to him in London, from the Hon. Josiah Thomas, Postmaster-General of the Australian Commonwealth.

The story of Penny Postage between England and Australia is of dramatic interest. It opens with the speech of that noble woman, Mrs Chisholm ("the Emigrants' Friend," whose name, if unfamiliar to English readers, is a saintly memory in Australian hearts), at a public meeting, in which she stated that the high postage prevented correspondence between emigrants and the old folks at home, and the suffering in consequence. Mrs Chisholm narrated the story of one poor old woman dying in England through having to refuse a letter on which she was unable to pay the postage. The letter contained £25. On Australian stations far away in the bush there was nothing more touching than to see the emigrant 215