The result was grand mass-meetings in every part of the country, which were organized, in many instances, by men of eloquence and ability. One of the leaders was Feargus O'Conner, who headed the processions, and fancied himself the saviour of the workingmen. His rude eloquence had great weight with the masses, who felt that they were thrust out of the political workings of the government, but needed to be told what changes they required. Then Daniel O'Connell stepped forward as leader of the workingmen's party, and wrote an appeal to the government, setting forth the grievances of the people and demanding reform. To this document he gave the popular title of { 332}"the People's Charter," and said, as he handed it to the secretary of the association: "Agitate for it, and never be content with anything else." This was the introduction of the movement known as Chartism that agitated England during the following ten years; for charters representing all sorts of grievances, political and social, were made out, and Chartist newspapers were founded. The most influential of these was the "Northern Star," conducted by Feargus O'Conner. Some of the Chartist meetings were preceded by torchlight processions, and many of them terminated in serious riots.
It must not be supposed that complaints were made without cause, or that the grievances were imaginary; for the poor of England really suffered, and there was urgent need of reform. Some of the points in "the People's Charter" were adopted as part of the English Constitution, and as time rolled on Chartism gradually faded out of existence.
There was a great and most beneficial change made in the post-office system at this period; and this is how it came about: Miss Martineau says, that Coleridge, when a young man, was walking through the Lake District one day, when he saw a postman deliver a letter to a young woman at a cottage door. The woman turned it over and examined it, and then returned it, saying that she could not pay the postage, which was a shilling. Hearing that the letter was from her brother, the poet's interest was aroused, and he paid the postage in spite of the woman's protestations. No sooner was the postman out of sight than the woman tore open the sheet, and showed Coleridge that it was blank. She then explained that she and her brother had agreed that as long as everything went well with him he was to send her a blank sheet once every three months, and upon the receipt of it she would know that such was the case without the expense of postage. { 333}This incident made such an impression on Coleridge that he repeated it to Mr. Rowland Hill, who was struck with the belief that there must be something wrong in a system which prompted brother and sister to cheat in order to gratify their desire to hear from each other. So he set to work to make inquiries as to the cost of carrying letters, and never rested until he succeeded in establishing the penny-post, which has proved a great blessing to the whole civilized world. Of course, it was not accomplished without a great deal of trouble and opposition; but no sooner were the advantages of cheap postage recognized in England than the system was imitated by nearly all nations.