25 Jan y 1808

+ B

Homologation necessary

Jury Trial requires it

engagements of which no description is to be found

The main body of the law being given -given if it must be given at all it must be in terminus - so far as /to the extent in which/ it is given, so far, and so far only, we have a fixt and standing basis for the Jury box. Then it is, and then only that the distinction between the question of law and the question of fact admitts of a clear description. In this case in every instance the question of law is neither more nor less than a question of words: a question concerning the import [...?] to be given to certain words one or more, and these in every case determinate.

The question of fact will be to take the simplest and most ordinary case whether the account given of the individual transaction by the evidence /witness/, is worthy of being believed: from the two questions together, and the compound question is - supposing evidence given to the account given of the individual transaction by the witness, does /is/ that individual transaction appear to belong to the sort of transaction in question as described by those general terms [...?] of the text on the text of the law on which the demand or defence (say here for example he demand) is grounded.

Take the cases as before of the house or the horse. What the Plaintiff demand is to have possession given [...?] in certain[?] of the horse: alledging as the ground of the demand - as the efficient cause of his title, under the word of he law the existence of a contract of sale of which the horse was the subject - buyer, himself the plaintiff, seller, the defendant: referring to a passage in the text of the law o a passage /clause/, which under the head of contracts of conveyance