Joseph Story

“ Where, then, is the contract of affreightment, the bills of lading, the letters of advice, and the correspondence of the shippers, or of Mr. P. Grant? Can it be credible that, without any authority, the master, or part owner of the ship should, on their own responsibility, have gone to Liverpool, without orders or consignment? ”

“ If the evidence of the claimants be clear and precisely in point, not to indulge in vague and indeterminate suspicions, but to pronounce an acquittal, unless that evidence be clouded with incredibility, or encountered by strong presumptions of mala fides, from the other circumstances of the case.' He also alludes to the absence of documentary evidence to support the defence set up by the claimants as affording an example of the application of these rules, as well as of another rule equally important. ”