size or the shape of a letter. A letter from Londonto Brighton cost eightpence; to Aberdeen, one shilling and threepence halfpenny; to Belfast, one shilling and fourpence.

7. Nor was this all; for, if the letter were written on more than one sheet of paper, it was charged at a higher rate. Members of Parliament had the privilege of franking letters to a certain limited extent; members of the Government had the privilege of franking to an unlimited extent. This absurd system encouraged what may be called the smuggling of letters. Nearly all the letters sent between Manchester and London were said to have been conveyed by this process.

8. Sir Rowland Hill is the man to whom this country, and indeed all civilization, owes the adoption of the cheap and uniform system. His plan has been adopted by every state which professes to have a postal system at all. Every letter weighing not more than half-an-ounce could be thus sent to any part of the Kingdom on payment of one penny. In more recent times, a letter weighing not more than one ounce can be sent for the same money.

9. Some idea of the effect this law has produced upon the postal correspondence of the country may be gathered from the fact that in 1839, the last year of the heavy postage, the number of letters delivered in Great Britain and Ireland was a little more than eighty-two millions: whereas in 1875 more than a thousand millions of letters were delivered in the United Kingdom.

QUESTIONS.-What still more daring schemes were talked about early in this reign? What vessels sail to America? When? Where from? What was the difficulty expected in this scheme? What line of steamers was soon started? What town obtained the most benefit from it? What important House of Commons in July, 1839? and mention some rates of postage. To whom do we owe the Penny Postage?

resolution was passed by the Describe the old postage system, What did the scheme lead to ? Show the effect of it.

Winter, thou daughter of the storm,
I love thee when the day is o'er,
Spite of the tempest's outward roar;
Queen of the tranquil joys that weave
The chain around the sudden eve :
The thickening footsteps through the gloom,
Telling of those we love come home;
The candles lit, the cheerful board,
The dear domestic group restored;
The fire that shows the look of glee,
The infant sitting on our knee;
The busy news, the sportive tongue,
The laugh that makes us still feel young;
The thought of those we love, that now
Are far as ocean winds can blow;
The thought of those who with us grew,
And still stay with us tried and true;
The kiss that makes life glide away,
The long and lovely marriage-day.

Then music comes till round us creep
The youthful listeners half asleep;

1. Few institutions have produced so much misery, and inflicted such woes among mankind, as that of slavery. That one man should be another man's property, to be bought and sold, to be used as a beast of burden, to be driven to his work with the lash, and to be punished just according to the will or the passion of another man-this does seem an iniquity, an outrage upon all we hold dear and good.

2. Yet such slavery has existed, more or less, throughout the world's history. In olden times, in Greece and Rome, there was a large slave population, and there were few persons living in those days whose character and whose opinions were not very largely influenced by this fact.

3. In the early days of Rome, when population was small, and the mode of living was simple and homely, the slaves, who were chiefly prisoners taken in war, were treated with great kindness, and looked upon as members of the family. As the population increased in numbers and in wealth, and as habits of luxury became more common, the treatment of slaves became less kind and humane.