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1
435
Her Majesty's Mails
·
William Lewins
320
In
England,
stamps
to
prepay
letters
were
most
probably
suggested
by
the
newspaper
duty-stamp,
then,
and
for
some
time
previously,
in
use.
Mr.
Charles
Whiting
seems
to
have
thrown
out
this
suggestion
to
the
Post-Office
authorities
in
1830.[172]
Afterwards,
Mr.
Charles
Knight
proposed
a
stamped
cover
for
the
circulation
of
newspapers.
Dr.
Gray,
of
the
British
Museum,
claims
the
credit
of
having
suggested
that
letters
should
be
prepaid
with
them,
as
early
as
1834.[173]
No
steps,
however,
were
taken
in
regard
to
any
recommendations
on
the
subject
till
the
proposals
for
post
reform;
and,
consequently,
the
credit
of
the
improvement
has
fallen,
to
a
considerable
extent,
to
Sir
Rowland
Hill.
The
use
of
postage-stamps
was
scarcely
part
of
his
original
scheme,
though
it
followed
almost
as
a
matter
of
course:
and,
indeed,
this
public
benefactor,
crowned
with
so
many
well-won
laurels,
may
easily
afford
to
dispense
with
the
adornment
of
this
single
one.
Mr.
Hill's
famous
pamphlet
on
Post
Reform
went
through
three
editions
rapidly.
In
the
first
edition,
which
was
published
privately,
we
find
no
mention
of
the
use
of
stamps--though
prepayment
of
letters
was
always
a
principal
feature
in
his
proposals--money
payments
over
the
counter
of
the
receiving-office
being
all
that
was
suggested
under
this
head.
Immediately
after
the
publication
of
the
first
edition,
the
members
of
the
Royal
Commission
on
the
Post-Office,
which
had
been
sitting
at
intervals
since
1833,
called
the
author
before
them.
In
connexion
with
the
subject
of
the
prepayment
of
letters,
the
officers
of
the
Stamp
Office--Mr.
Dickenson,
the
paper-maker,
and
several
others--were
also
examined,
and
the
subject
was
thoroughly
discussed.[174]
Almost,
as
it
would
seem,
as
a
consequence
of
the
proceedings
before
Committee,
Mr.
Hill,
in
the
second
edition
of
his
pamphlet,
recommended
definitely
the
use
of
some
kind
of
stamps
or
stamped
envelopes
as
a
means
of
prepayment.
When
the
Committee
of
the
House
of
Commons
met
in
1837-8
to
investigate
the
merits
of
Mr.
Hill's
penny-postage
scheme,
they
were,
of
course,
required
to
express
an
opinion
as
to
the
desirability
or
otherwise
of
prepayment
by
means
of
stamps.
A
favourable
opinion
was
given
on
the
subject,
so
that
when
the
Government
brought
in
and
carried
the
Penny-Postage
Act,
a
clause
for
their
use
formed
a
component
part
of
it.
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