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318
The Royal Mail: Its Curiosities and Romance
·
James Wilson Hyde
296
Something
I
want
to
write
upon,
to
scare
away
each
vapour--
The
"Penny
Postage"
shall
I
try?
Why,
yes,
I'll
write
on
paper.
Thy
great
invention,
Rowland
Hill,
each
person
loudly
hails;
The
females
they
are
full
of
it,
and
so
are
all
the
mails.
This
may
be
called
the
"Penny
Age,"
and
those
who
are
not
mulish,
Are
daily
growing
"penny
wise,"
though
not,
I
hope,
pound
foolish.
We've
penny
blacking,
penny
plays,
penny
mags,
for
information,
And
now
a
"Penny
Post,"
which
proves
we've
lots
of
penetration.
Their
love-sick
thoughts
by
this
new
act
may
Lucy,
Jane,
or
Mary,
Array
in
airy-diction
from
Johnson's
dictionary.
Each
maid
will
for
the
postman
watch
the
keyhole
like
a
cat,
And
spring
towards
the
door
whene'er
there
comes
a
big
rat-tat.
And
lots
of
paper
will
be
used
by
every
scribbling
elf,
That
each
should
be
a
paper
manufacturer
himself.
To
serve
all
with
ink
enough
they
must
have
different
plans;
They
must
start
an
"Ink
walk"
just
like
milk,
and
serve
it
round
in
cans.
The
letters
in
St
Valentine
so
vastly
will
amount,
Postmen
may
judge
them
by
the
lot,
they
won't
have
time
to
count;
They
must
bring
round
spades
and
measures,
to
poor
love-sick
souls
Deliver
them
by
bushels,
the
same
as
they
do
coals.
As
billet-doux
will
so
augment,
the
mails
will
be
too
small,
So
omnibuses
they
must
use,
or
they
can't
carry
all;
And
ladies
pleasure
will
evince,
instead
of
any
fuss,
To
have
their
lovers'
letters
all
delivered
with
a
'bus!
Mail-coachmen
are
improving
much
in
knowledge
of
the
head,
For
like
the
letter
which
they
take,
they're
themselves
all
over
red.
Postmen
are
"men
of
letters"
too;
each
one's
a
learned
talker,
And
'cause
he
reads
the
diction'ry,
the
people
call
him
"Walker."
Handwriting
now
of
every
sort
the
connoisseur
may
meet;
Though
a
running
hand,
I
think,
does
most
give
postmen
running
feet.
They
who
can't
write
will
make
their
mark
when
they
a
line
are
dropping,
And
where
orthography
is
lame,
of
course
it
will
"come
hopping."
Invention
is
progressing
so,
and
soon
it
will
be
seen,
That
conveyance
will
be
quicker
done
than
it
has
ever
been;
A
plan's
in
agitation--as
nought
can
genius
fetter--
To
let
us
have
the
answer
back,
before
they
get
the
letter.
Marker
Marker
Fine marker
White-out
Fine white-out
Circle
Paint
Unmarker
Hand
Scalpel
Dice
Sieve
Purify
Undo
Redo
Start over
