The undersigned, oficers & students of the Theological Seminary in Andover, Mass. beg leave respectfully & earnestly to request, that ordinary letter postage be reduced to the uniform rate of two cents, & that the franking privilage now enjoyed by the members of Congress, be commuted for an increas of pecuniary compensation.

While we would abstain from repeating the common arguments already so frequently & forcibly urged in favor of these & kindread reforms in our postal system, we beg leave to call the attention of your honorable body to the unjust & oppessive bearing of the present system on scholars, & members of the learned pofessions.

This class of citizens are generally among the least opulent; & many of them, especially at the North, are very indigent. More than half, perhaps two thirds, of the student^s^ educated at this & kindred Seminaries, are compelled to seek aid from benevolent institutions & individuals, & most of them, in subsequent life, obtain but a slender support for their filies families. And yet from their very profession, & their position in society, literary men are compelled to maintain a more extensive correspondence by mail than almost any other class of men. The consequence is, that they are most unduly taxed, in the covert mode of extra postage, for the support of the general government.

We may also say, that this system appears to us as unwise as it is unjust & oppressive. The general diffusion of knowledge is universally regarded as vital to civil & religious freedom. Even some of the present postal arrangements, are based on this axium. But the feature of which we complain, is in direct antagonism to this principle; for the class of men who exist for the very purpose of increasing & diffusing knowledge, and applying it to practice, instead of being fostered, are exorbitantly taxed; & of course not only their confort but their usefulness is impaired.

We must therefore beleive, that the amendments we ask for will be both just & salutary.

That you may be fully ^[f?]^ rewarded ^for^ all your labors & guided in them ^by wisdom^ from above, is the desire & prayer of your petitioners.

The general diffusion of knowledg[e] [is?] universally regarded as vital to civil & religious freedom. Even some of our present postal arrangements, are based on this axium. But the feature of which we complain, is in direct antagonism to this principle. The class of men who exist for the very purpose of increasing & diffusing knowledge & applying it to practice, instead of being fostered, are exorbitantly taxed, & that, not for the interests of mental improvement, but the support of government. Of course, not only their comfort, but their usefulness to the nation & the world, is impaired.

We must, therefore, believe, that the amendments we ask for, will be, not only a relief to individuals, but a benefit to the nation & an honor to legislation.