The Sun.
London, England, 1852-08-26 00:00:00

again assuredly, though the magistrate improperly,
as you know (winking at the Learned Counsel) dis-
missed the summons.
Mr. PAYNE—And you Bald, " when the wied.is
southerly I know a hawk from a
a handsaw—ahem,
Sh kspe:tre."
The Captain—And do you never quote
ShukApeare ? I beg your pardon, when you do you
should quote correctly. Just turn to Hamlet, and
see what he says on the subject of the southerly wind,
and hawks and handsows, and you will see you are
wrong in your quotation. Ahem I've a witness here
to prove it.

Mr. PAyNE—What, the lady with the lovely foot,
who used to live with you as your wife ? The Cap-
tain—Not the same. It is a lady, though ; would you
like to see her ?

Mr. Parglt—No, thank you, Captain. How many
times have you been locked up in station-houses ?
The Captain—Which station- house ? You know I
must be particular in answering that question, as I'm
on oath. Let me see—twice at Vine-street—once at
Westminster. Now, mind, I give you this informa-
tion gratuitously; it has not yet appeared in the
papers.—(Laughter.) It was once for throwing an
oyster-shell through a fanlight.
Mr. PAYNE—Were you ever in a lunatic asylum ?
The Captain (to the Court)—My Lord, to that ques-
tion I must give a very discursive answer, if I am to
answer it at all. If it can be considered that such a
question Irs anything to do with the case, I will
reply with pleasure ; but I must go on at length it I
once begin. •
very well, I will not press it.
The CP:pirtic )1)'
Captain-11' ell, I'm sorry for it. I wish you had.
In answer to further questions the gallant Captain
said be bad never had conversation of a loose, immoral
kind with the prisoner. He might have asked him to
PsY a cabman for hi:11, as any gentleman might desire
his servant to do, but he bad never asked him to pay
for his dinners. He was not in the habit of c.:rrsing
money about with him, because the last time he did
he was robbed of sixteen sovereigns, and now he car-
ried not more than as many shillings. As to the state
of his mind, he could refer to Sirs W. Bumet, Dr.
Richardson, and Dr. Anderson. He ~ad said he
should like r
all out of kindness to him—(A. laugh)—as he (the
okkLve the prisoner transported, but it was
Captain) had influential friends at the antipodes who
would take care of him and bring him on in the
world, while if he went to the House of Correction he
would be corrupted and ruined.
Mr. PAYNE, in his address to the jury, urged that
the prisoner had no intention of stealing the coat.
The act of pledging was not necessarily an act of
theft; the prisoner had not sold the coat, and by doing
so placed it out of his power to restore it to the
owner; but be bad thought, from the intimate terms
on which he had been with Captain Shepheard, al-
though he was his master, that he might take the coat
and raise upon it a small sum—it was pawned for about
one-seventh of its value—to enable him to go into the
country to see his sister. It was a dangerous prin-
ciple to lay down with regard to servants; but, con-
sidering the extraordinary conduct of the captain,
who he thought was crack-brained, and as mad as a
March hare, and the terms of familiarity be had been
on with the prisoner, who asserted that he bad bad
repeatedly
stealing
Oakley,topay
reasonably be inferred that he bad no intention of
actuallyzrlr. thefo coat.r the
captain's
dinners,
it
might
a partner in the house of Fortnum and
Mason, gave the prisoner a good character
for
honesty.
The prisoner had been five years in the employ of the
firm, and-left of his own accord.
The jury, after a short consultation, acquitted the
prisoner.
The prosecutor then went to Mr. Payne and cor-
dially shook him by the hand, laughing heartily. $e
caused considerable mirth a
saying to " his learned friendeo.n,KA the counsel by
Diddler, have you such a thing , my Jeremy
as half-u-crown about
you?"

INTERNATIONAL POSTAGE.
The following is the basis of a proposed arrange_
ment with respect to a reform in the present system
of international postage, which has been issued in a
circular under the sanction of the association recently
formed at the Society of Arts. As it is essential that
the postal revenue should be divided in fair propor-
tion between the contracting parties, and as it is de-
sirable that each country should be allowed to use itg
own coins, weights, and measures, in the collection
of that revenue :
To satisfy these conditions," says the circular, " the
following plan is proposed. Let a postal union be
formed between as many countries as possible, on the
following simple grounds:—
" 1. Each country shall fix a rate of foreign postage
at its own discretion, provided that rate be uniform to
every country in the proposed postal union, and every
part of that country; and that rate shall be prepaid in
all cases.

" 2. Each country shall engage to receive, transmit,
or deliver to its address, free of any charge whatever,
any letter pasing to it free from the post-offices of the
other subscribing countries.
" Ia other words, each country shall levy a revenue
on letters outwards, none on letters inwards.
" Thus, each country would collect its own revenue in
its own coin, subject to its own regulations; uniformity
and simplicity would be secured as far as they are prac-
tically useful to the inhabitants of a country, and cheap-
ness would come of itself. Indeed no Government would
enter into such an arrangement that did not recognise
the advantage of cheap postage, and no country would
very long charge its citizens much more for the carriage
of a letter than a stranger would have to pay for the
reply to that letter, when the service rendered is pre-
cisely the same."
Such a plan as this requires only time and the
earnest co-operation of a few men to enlist the public,
and after the public the Legislature, and after the
Legislature the Government, in favour of its prin.
ciple, if not of its details. The principle being once
conceded, the details will soon shape themselves to
the general convenience ; and we cannot bring our-
selves to doubt but that, sooner or later, the postage
of the whole world will be proportionately as cheap as
that of Great Britain. Public opinion differs as to
the policy of some movements which call themselves
by the name of peace ; but this is a peace movement
about which there can be no difference, and which is
certain to unite in its support as soon as it is suffi-
ciently known and proved to be practicable, men of
all countries, all classes of life, and all shades of opi-
nion.—lllustrated London News.