177 



ESSAY ON THE RATIONALE OF CIRCUMSTANTIAL 

 EVIDENCE. 



By William Wills, Esq. 



Op the various kinds of moral evidence, that of testimony is the 

 most important and comprehensive in its relation to human con- 

 cerns ; and, considering how many of our daily determinations are 

 grounded upon that kind of evidence, even where we least suppose 

 that we are pursuing a logical process, and how important it is 

 that our judgments should be correctly formed, the subject is one of 

 deep curiosity and interest. To enter upon the subject of testimony 

 at large, would be to treat of the conduct of the human under- 

 standing in relation to the greater portion of the affairs of life. A 

 due regard to unity of plan requires that I abstain from even glanc- 

 ing at many kindred and interesting topics, and that I restrict my 

 observations as much as possible to that specific portion of moral 

 evidence which I propose to consider. 



It would be erroneous and unjust, because the subject is best ca- 

 pable of illustration by forensic occurrences, to conclude that it 

 more especially concerns the pursuits or the members of a particular 

 profession. Such events are amongst the most deeply touching and 

 dramatic incidents of social life ; and throw a fearful light upon the 

 darker parts of human nature, " as earthquakes and volcanoes dis- 

 close the layers which compose the deeper parts of our planet, be- 

 neath a fertile and flowery surface."* The subject is of universal 

 concernment, and relates to an intellectual process applicable to 

 every branch of human speculation. 



It is desirable to clear the subject of ambiguity from the inaccu- 

 rate use of language. The word proof is often applied to that 

 which is merely the jnedium of proof. The judgment in relation to 

 any alleged fact is always founded upon evidence, and when the 

 result is that state of opinion which we distinguish by the term 

 belief, we correctly say that the subject-matter of our inquiry is 

 proved. Proof, then, is that quantity of evidence which produces 

 belief, and they severally differ as cause and effect. 



The epithets direct, or indirect, or circumstantial, as applied to 

 moral evidence, have been sanctioned by such long and general use 

 that it might seem presumptuous to question their accuracy, as it 



* Mackintosh, Ethical Dissertation, p. 228. 

 VOL. VI. — NO. XX. Z 



