In all the large centres of population the great mercantile houses were foremost among those who took up the good cause, and the Press also threw itself into the struggle with much heartiness except in those cases where the cue given was—attack! Happily these dissentients were soon outnumbered and outvoiced. A few journals, indeed, achieved marvellously sudden conversions—behaviour which even in the present more enlightened days is not absolutely unknown. Twenty-five London and eighty-seven provincial papers—there were far fewer papers then than there are now—supported the proposed reform, and their championship found an echo in some of the foreign Press. In London the _Times_ (after a while), the now defunct _Morning Chronicle_, and the _Spectator_ were pre-eminent. Mr Rintoul, founder and first editor of the _Spectator_, not only championed the reform long before its establishment, but continued to give the reformer constant support through trials and triumphs till 1858, when, to the great loss of journalism and of all good causes, death severed Mr Rintoul's connection with that paper.[88] Outside London, the _Scotsman_—then renowned for its advanced views—the _Manchester Guardian_, the _Liverpool Mercury_, and the _Leeds Mercury_—then in the hands of the well-known Baines family—were, perhaps, especially active. Their support and that of other ably conducted provincial papers never varied, and to the end of his life Rowland Hill spoke gratefully of the enlightened and powerful aid thus given. FOOTNOTES: [66] “All the members of his family,” says Mr John C. Francis in _Notes and Queries_, 10th Series, No. 141, 8th September 1906, “were proud of Rowland and his scheme. There was no jealousy: each worked in harmony. The brothers looked at all times to each other for counsel; it was a perfect home, with the good old father as its head. Truly have his words been verified: 'The union of my children has proved their strength.'” ... “Never did a family so unite in working for the common good.” [67] “By his inventive mechanical skill,” says Mr Francis, “he greatly improved the machinery [at Somerset House]. My father frequently had occasion to see him, and always found him ready to consider any suggestion made. Especially was this the case when he obtained permission for a stamp to be made with the sender's name round the rim. This was designed for him by Edwin Hill.”