mercantile firm would have an eye to the same postal facilities; so that the frank of their member acted like a diffusive bribe over Whig and Tory of the borough that elected him.
Thus Rowland Hill, in agitating for a uniform Penny Postage, not only had all the organized red-tapeism and vis inertiæof an old and vicious system to encounter, but also a thickset and a stoutset array of vested interests to grapple with and overcome. Still, such was the force of the facts and arguments he brought forward, and such was the general interest of the great masses in his scheme, that the very year in which it was thus developed a Parliamentary committee was appointed to examine it. This committee fully appreciated its merits, and strongly recommended its adoption, not only for the great stimulus and facility it would give to mercantile correspondence, but also for its educational effect upon the lower classes in developing and exercising their intellectual faculties and social affections and intercourse. During the following session more than ten thousand petitions were presented to Parliament praying for an uniform penny postage. And the next year this great reform was realized, and Penny Postage became a power in the land and one of the great social forces of the world. Although so many and strong prescriptive interests, and so many hereditary and ancient
