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
income from stamps forms no inconsiderable item of the revenue; while it
need scarcely be said that the advantages of the penny post, both to
business men and the public generally, cannot be over-estimated.
Between the years 1839 and 1849 the British were engaged in a series of
military enterprises in the north-west of India, which greatly tried the
bravery of our soldiers, and were attended even with serious disaster.
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