Henry Brockholst Livingston

“ Another circumstance which detracts much from the credit of this witness, is, that it is more than probable, that at the time of this consignment, a copartnership subsisted between the claimant and the Jaffrays of London. This appears not only from an advertisement of a dissolution of such copartnership, which has been published since the decree of the Circuit Court, in one of the New-York papers, but from other testimony in the cause, and from no contrary proof being furnished by Mr. Toler. ”

“ This section provides, that it shall be lawful for the collector, naval officer, or other officers of the customs, after entry made of any goods, wares, or merchandize, on suspicion of fraud, to open and examine, in the presence of two or more reputable merchants, any package or packages thereof, and if, upon examination, they shall be found to agree with the entries, the officer making such seizure and examination, shall cause the same to be repacked, and delivered to the owner or claimant forthwith ”

“ If merchants, who must be presumed to know how to manage their business, will act in a manner so contrary to the general practice of commercial men, they must expect, and cannot complain, if such deviation from established usage create suspicions unfavourable to the integrity of the particular transaction. It would have added something to the value of the testimony of Mr. Crane, if the name of the merchant at Albany, to whose care the letter for Mr. ”