[62] For nearly two centuries the change was opposed here, partly perhaps chiefly, because it was inaugurated on the Continent by a Pope, Gregory XIII. Common-sense and the noblest of all sciences were on the side of His Holiness; but religious bigotry was too strong even for that combination; and for those many years religious bigotry held the field. Opposition did not cease even when the correction was made; and grave divines preached against the wickedness of an Act which, they said, brought many millions of sinners eleven days nearer to their graves; and in one of Hogarth's series of Election Pictures, a man is seen bearing a placard on which is inscribed the words, “Give us back our eleven days.” Most of us, too, are familiar with the cruel story of the witch mania which was shared by men as excellent as Sir Matthew Hale and John Wesley. To-day, we are glad that old, friendless men and women, to say nothing of their harmless, necessary cats, are permitted to die peacefully. Are there any now among us who would restore the Act, _De Comburendo Heretico_, expunged from the Statute Book in William's III.'s reign—a removal which doubtless scandalised not a few sincerely devout persons? [63] In the oldest days of coaching, the horses which started with the vehicle drew it to the journey's end. Relays of horses were a happy afterthought. [64] Dublin became possessed of a local penny post before 1793; but not until that date, or a hundred and thirteen years after the establishment of Dockwra's reform in London, was it considered worth while to extend the boon to Manchester—which had now displaced Bristol as the second town in the kingdom—or to the last-named city and to Birmingham. At this time, too, it was still customary to address letters bound for the centre of the cutlery industry to “Sheffield, near Rotherham”, the latter being the more important town. [65] For a graphically described contrast between the treatment meted out in those “good old times” to Catholics and that to Protestants, see Sydney Smith's too-seldom read “Peter Plymley's Letters.” CHAPTER III THE PLAN “If in 1834 only a moderate reduction had been made in the extortionate rates of postage which were then in force, Rowland Hill might not have embarked upon his plan; and, even if he had done so, that plan might have failed to evoke from the public sufficient force to overcome opposition in high quarters. In proportion to the extent of the evil did men welcome the remedy.”—JOYCE'S “History of the Post Office,” p. 420. The postal reform “perhaps represents the greatest social improvement brought about by legislation in modern times.”—JUSTIN M'CARTHY in “A History of Our Own Times,” chap. iv. p. 89.