so big as an ordinary
paper at four cents, and I am afraid he will not take it for me;
but mamma says if I wrote to you perhaps you could give me some
good reason for the paper being smaller than papa expected, so that
he will keep his promise, for I like the paper very much, and I
have read about the "Brave Swiss Boy," and so has father; and he
says it is better than the kind of paper they throw in the
door--"to be continued." So please tell us why your paper is not so
big as the "trash papers," as father calls them, and I will be very
thankful.

LIZZIE M. D.

There are several reasons why _Harper's Young People_ is not as large as
the journals which you call "trash" papers. In the first place,
_Harper's Young People_ is very carefully printed on extra fine paper,
which make the type and illustrations look so clear and beautiful. And
then a very large price is paid to the artists who draw the pictures, to
the engravers who reproduce them on wood, and to the authors who
contribute the reading matter which you find so interesting. The picture
of "The Tournament," for instance, on the first page of the preceding
number, cost over one hundred and fifty dollars for drawing and
engraving. Some of the pictures will cost even more than that. If _Young
People_ was a larger weekly paper, and just as good in every respect as
it is now, the price would necessarily be larger; and then some of our
young readers might be deprived of the pleasure of having it.

_Harper's Young People_ comes out every Tuesday; and if you read all the
stories, poems, etc., and make out the puzzles and enigmas, you will
find that it will take all the time you ought to spare from study, play,
and other callings. We mean to make _Young People_ the very best weekly
for children in the world, so that they will always be glad to see it,
as they would welcome a visit from a pleasant companion.

* * * * *

The following letters have been received in reply to the question, in
the first number of _Young People_, as to the originator of cheap
postage.

NEW YORK CITY.

The founder of the system of prepaying postage by placing a small
label on one corner of the letter was Sir Rowland Hill. It was
first advocated by him in 1837, and stamps were first used by the
British Post-office May 6, 1840. They were introduced in the United
States in 1847. Sir Rowlan