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Page 11
I come now to tell some of the things which can be accomplished and
produced for a penny. One of the earliest publications of any note was
the "Penny Magazine," which is endeared to my memory as having shown me
the earliest of George Stephenson's great works--the Liverpool and
Manchester Railway. This magazine has now passed away, but it has been
amply replaced by others of equal merit, carrying out its principles of
giving a sound and cheap literature to the people; it was a boon to all
who cared for instruction, and at the same time had to take care of a
penny. Now we have our daily papers at a penny, and of the 1711
newspapers issued (1876) in the United Kingdom, 808 are sold at this
small price. Look at those papers, the "Telegraph," "Standard," and
many others; are they not a light that has shone over our world, showing
what man has been enabled to do for his fellows, in being able to
disseminate the knowledge of what is transpiring over the world to their
readers, both near and far off, and all for only one penny! Has this
been done without labour? No. What has caused it but the earnest desire
to know the events of daily life in as short a time as possible. I do
not care to vouch for what I now say, but I should think that about
20,000 copies are thrown off of the "Daily Telegraph" in an hour, and
these can be bought for one penny each. This penny's worth has cost a
great amount of thought to bring about. Besides the various manufactures
which are required for this result, the daily paper also brings to its
aid the agriculturist as regards the paper; for though this was at first
only made of rags, we now produce it from straw, and I have made it from
thistles, whilst it has also been made from wood and other things. The
rags, of course, were derived from agriculture in as far as flax
required to be grown, but now the farmer gets his grain from the crop,
and the straw left is made into paper--the chief agent in distributing
through the world the thoughts of the learned in science, arts,
literature, and politics. With what eagerness do we look for our paper
in the morning, and with what pleasure do we pay our penny for it! A
penny's worth with respect to this material does not stop here. Look at
our beautiful and not costly decorations; see what a charming room we
can show, produced by a wall-paper at a cost of one penny a yard. Some
of these coloured decorations produce an eye-deception that quite, as
the Scotch would say, "jumbles the judgment and confounds the
understanding."
We have not done with luxuries, and I will now bring one before you
that, like many others, if used aright, there is no harm in, and which I
look upon as a means of keeping up social good-fellowship among all. I
mean _smoking_. Now the use of tobacco in itself is harmless, but used
in excess is not only dangerous, but acts as a poison. I like a pipe,
but I find at the same time it is needful to have a light. The ingenuity
of man has supplied my want and wish, and I can now get a light from an
article which, to look at, seems only something black tipped with red.
The labour required to produce this small box of lights, as it is
called, is wonderful--the chemist, the wood merchant, the mechanician
(and I am sorry to say, also the surgeon, from the deleterious effects
of the phosphorus on the human frame), have all to bring their work to
bear on the production of this most useful article. Yet, after all, it
is sold and bought for one penny a box. Messrs. Bryant & May profess to
save your houses from fire for this sum by using their matches, and I
think they are right. Fire and heat are among our best friends, but are
also dangerous enemies; and I am sure a penny spent on Bryant & May's
matches is _well_ spent. I do not wish to disparage other makers--far
from it; but a match that will only ignite on the box is an article all
householders should procure, not only for their own protection, but also
for that of their neighbours.
A very striking instance of the value of a penny is set before us in
that most wonderful system the penny-postage, the institution of which
was a boon to the kingdom that cannot be too highly appreciated. It
enables rich and poor alike to bring their thoughts and desires into
communication with each other, and so relieve anxious cares in regard
to the health and wealth, the joys and sorrows of friends in an easy
manner. A penny stamp can convey all our requirements, whether for good
or for evil, and many a large sum is now transmitted under its care. I
have been told that as many as 60,000 letters have passed through the
travelling post-office of the London and North-Western Railway in one
night. How could this great correspondence ever have been carried on but
for railways; and but for the foresight of Sir Rowland Hill this system
might still have been in the background. It is clearly in my
recollection when 1 s. 1-1/2 d. was the charge for a letter from London
to Edinburgh, and that was for what was then called a _single_ letter;
now you may send as much as you like under a certain weight for one
penny.
Travelling is now also a thing within the reach of all, for you can
travel for one penny a mile, and this at a rate of speed that could not
be done a few years ago. So much for railways.
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