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Sir Rowland Hill, who devised the Uniform Penny Post.
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Sir Rowland Hill, in an undated photograph. Hill was not a politician, or a civil servant, or an employee of the Post Office. He had been a highly innovative schoolmaster, who believed in kindness and rewarding self-discipline rather than severity and imposing rules, and aimed to teach boys not state-approved facts but the skill of teaching themselves, so they could enjoy a lifetime of learning. Poor health hindered his classroom career, and leaving Bruce Castle School in the hands of his brothers he took a job promoting emigration to Australia. His commitment to the principles of free trade underpinned his ideas on education, emigration and Post Office Reform, believing in each case that what people need is not regulation by their superiors, but opportunity.
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Sir Rowland Hill, who devised the Uniform Penny Post.
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Via Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.
Sir Rowland Hill, in an undated photograph. Hill was not a politician, or a civil servant, or an employee of the Post Office. He had been a highly innovative schoolmaster, who believed in kindness and rewarding self-discipline rather than severity and imposing rules, and aimed to teach boys not state-approved facts but the skill of teaching themselves, so they could enjoy a lifetime of learning. Poor health hindered his classroom career, and leaving Bruce Castle School in the hands of his brothers he took a job promoting emigration to Australia. His commitment to the principles of free trade underpinned his ideas on education, emigration and Post Office Reform, believing in each case that what people need is not regulation by their superiors, but opportunity.
This brought me to the conclusion that, “when a reduction of taxation is about to take place, it is exceedingly important that great care and judgment should be exercised in the selection of the tax to be reduced, in order that the maximum of relief may be afforded to the public with the minimum of injury to the revenue”. My next attempt was to arrive at some rule which might serve for general guidance in such cases; and I came to the conclusion that, with some allowance for exceptions, the best test would be found by examining each tax “as to whether its productiveness has kept pace with the increasing number and prosperity of the nation. And the tax which proves most defective under this test is in all probability the one we are now in quest of”.
This test brought the tax I had in mind, viz., that on the transmission of letters, into bad pre-eminence.*
* Hill’s reforms resulted in a new rate of one penny for all inland letters under half an ounce (14g) in weight, and twopence for larger items. The penny stamp was black, hence the name Penny Black; the twopenny stamp was blue. They were the world’s first adhesive postage stamps. In today’s money, one penny in 1830 was equivalent to about 40p.
Questions for Critics
1. What is the author
aiming to achieve in writing this?
2. Note any words, devices or turns of phrase that
strike you. How do they help the author communicate his
ideas more effectively?
3. What impression does this passage make on you?
How might you put that impression into words?
Based on The English Critic (1939)
by NL Clay, drawing on The New Criticism: A Lecture Delivered at
Columbia University, March 9, 1910, by J. E. Spingarn,
Professor of Comparative Literature in Columbia University,
USA.
Précis
Hill’s study of taxation had led him to formulate two rules. First, not all cuts increased the revenue, so it was vital to study each case on its own merits. Second, the taxes to cut were those which had become counterproductive as Britain’s population and prosperity grew. On these measures, the postage rate was a prime candidate for cuts.(59 / 60 words)
Hill’s study of taxation had led him to formulate two rules. First, not all cuts increased the revenue, so it was vital to study each case on its own merits. Second, the taxes to cut were those which had become counterproductive as Britain’s population and prosperity grew. On these measures, the postage rate was a prime candidate for cuts.
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Variations:
1.increase the length of this precis to exactly 65 words.2.reduce the length of this precis to exactly 55 words.3.introduce one of the following words into the precis: because, besides, just, must, otherwise, ought, whether, who.
For each group of words, compose a sentence that uses all three. You can use any form of the word: for example, cat → cats, go → went, or quick → quickly, though neigh → neighbour is stretching it a bit.
This exercise uses words found in the accompanying passage.
1Come.Foreign.Revenue.
2Hope.Increase.Thought.
3Bad.Other.Whether.
Variations:1.include direct and indirect speech2.include one or more of these words: although, because, despite, either/or, if, unless, until, when, whether, which, who3.use negatives (not, isn’t, neither/nor, never, nobody etc.)
Many words can serve as noun or verb depending on context: see if you can prove this with the examples below. Nouns go well with words such as the/a, or his/her; verbs go well after I/you/he etc..
This exercise uses words found in the accompanying passage.
Variations:
1.if possible, use your noun in the plural, e.g. cat → cats.2.use your verb in a past form, e.g. go → went.3.use your noun in a sentence with one of these words: any, enough, fewer, less, no, some.
Use each word below in a sentence. Try to include at least one statement, one question and one command among your sentences. Note that some verbs make awkward or meaningless words of command, e.g. need, happen.
This exercise uses words found in the accompanying passage.
Variations:1.use a minimum of seven words for each sentence2.include negatives, e.g. isn’t, don’t, never3.use the words ‘must’ to make commands4.compose a short dialogue containing all three kinds of sentence: one statement, one question and one command
Make words (three letters or more) from the seven letters showing below, using any letter once only. Each letter carries a score. What is the highest-scoring word you can make?
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