Under these rates, a single letter to Kirkwall from Southampton cost 1s. 7d.; to London 9d., plus the penny postage; Cork 1s. 3d., &c. These rates were for a single-sheet letter, the charge being multiplied by two for a double letter, by four for an ounce, which is one-quarter of the weight at present allowed on a letter which costs us a modest penny.
Letters for overseas were correspondingly high as the following comparisons will show:—
| Single-sheet Letter. | 1 oz. Letter. | ||
| 1830. | 1911. | ||
| Austria | 2s. 3d. | 2½d. | |
| Brazil | } | ||
| Buenos Aires | 3s. 5d. | 2½d. | |
| Chili, Peru, &c. | |||
| Canary Islands | 2s. 6d. | 2½d. | |
| Germany | 1s. 9d. | 2½d. | |
| Hayti | 2s. 11d. | 2½d. | |
| Honduras | 2s. 11d. | 2½d. | |
| Portugal | 2s. 2d. | 2½d. | |
| Russia | 2s. 3d. | 2½d. | |
| Spain | 2s. 2d. | 2½d. | |
| Sweden | 1s. 8d. | 2½d. | |
| Turkey | 2s. 2d. | 2½d. | |
| United States | 2s. 1d. | 1d. | |
| British West Indies and | } | ||
| British North America | 2s. 1d. | 1d. | |
| Malta, Gibraltar | 2s. 2d. | 1d. | |
| St. Helena | 1s. 8½d. | 1d. | |
The registration fee on foreign letters was, in the early nineteenth century, one guinea per letter; to-day it is twopence.
THE COMMEMORATIVE LETTER BALANCE DESIGNED BY MR. S. KING, OF BATH (1840).
A monument "which may be possessed by every family in the United Kingdom."
These are but a few examples showing what a mighty change was wrought with the introduction of the Uniform Penny Postage plan of Rowland Hill. The circumstances under which the new plan was introduced included several factors to which may be attributed a share in the success of Hill's plan. First, the uniform and low minimum rate of one penny on inland letters, dispensing with tedious calculations of distance. By some it was feared that the necessity for calculating the weight would be more troublesome than examining the letter against a lighted candle to see if it were "single" or "double," and scores of "penny post letter balances" were placed upon the market at the outset. Next was the increased facility of transit provided by the then growing system of railways, and the subsequent development of steam-power at sea.
