SECT. 7.] Testimony. 399 



being a statement by a certain kind of witness), the fact of its 

 being uttered at a certain time and place and under certain 

 circumstances. At the time the statement is made all these 

 qualities or attributes of the statement are present to us, and 

 we clearly have a right to take into account as many of them 

 as we please. Now the question at present before us seems to 

 be simply this ; Are the considerations, which we might thus 

 introduce, as immaterial to the result in the case of the truth 

 of a statement of a witness, as the corresponding considera 

 tions are in the case of the insurance of a life? There can 

 surely be no hesitation in the reply to such a question. 

 Under ordinary circumstances we soon know all that we can 

 know about the conditions which determine us in judging of 

 the prospect of a man s death, and we therefore rest content 

 with general statistics of mortality; but no one who heard a 

 witness speak would think of simply appealing to his figure 

 of veracity, even supposing that this had been authoritatively 

 communicated to us. The circumstances under which the 

 statement is made instead of being insignificant, are of over 

 whelming importance. The appearance of the witness, the 

 tone of his voice, the fact of his having objects to gain, 

 together with a countless multitude of other circumstances 

 which would gradually come to light as we reflect upon the 

 matter, would make any sensible man discard the assigned 

 average from his consideration. He would, in fact, no more 

 think of judging in this way than he would of appealing to 

 the Carlisle or Northampton tables of mortality to determine 

 the probable length of life of a soldier who was already in 

 the midst of a battle. 



7. It cannot be replied that under these circumstances 

 we still refer the witness to a class, and judge of his veracity 

 by an average of a more limited kind; that we infer, for ex 

 ample, that of men who look and act like him under such 



