5 July 1803

Evidence

Written

§.3 Rules

Under the English law, dreadful indeed, (if this species of evidence were not received,) would be the condition of the trader, if this species of evidence were not received. Under the same law the masters own evidence would not be received: (since, according to the general rule no man's evidence is received in his own behalf, and of /among/ the numerous list of exceptions this case is not one.) It is not received in the ordinary viva voce form subject to examination it is not received in the form of written extrajudicial evidence - the form it wears when the entries are made under the master's own hand in the master's own books. If /thus stood/ the law stood thus, a man's title to the whole mass of [...?] moneys owed /owing/ to him would depend upon the lives of the servants respectively privy to the respective transactions between him and his debtors: were the law universally known to stand thus, all dishonest debtors would look upon the death of the bookkeeper /journeyman/ by whom the goods had been delivered to them in the shop or the porter by whom they had been delivered out of the Shop, as tantamount to a receit[?] for their respective debts. All credit would be at an end: trade could not /scarcely/ be carried on otherwise than for ready money: the value of the risk a man /trader/ run by the death of his servant /journeyman/ would be greater than the present average amount say the 15 per cent per annum of the profit of trade. The rate of profit upon all goods would require to be increased accordingly. But the corruption of morals by the irresistible /premium/ encouragement given to dishonesty - an encouragement the receipt of which would become frequent and notorious /abundantly and notoriously exemplified would be extreme: is/ said to have sometimes/ said to have happened in some instances by a power /an occult/ in the political body parallell to what is called vis[?] medicatri[?] natura[?] of the physical body arise[?] at the command of necessity an extraordinary degree of vigour on the popular or moral sanction should supply the fill up the gap occasioned by the deposition[?] of the force of the political sanction. But before the mischief had come to any such pass, legislative authority could not but interfere /step in/, and either simply rescind the common law rule, or obviate /moderate/ the mischief of it by the institution of some species /modification/ of pre-appointed evidence