Joseph Story

“ The essence of that crime is the representation of a false instrument to be a genuine one; the gist of the offence here is, that a party was in such a predicament that he might be injured by the act of the prisoner, and, consequently, that the policy was a valid one. The deception in that case might be equally successful, and, therefore, equally injurious, whether the bill purported to be made by a dead man or by a living one, whether the person who purported to be the drawer of a bill of exchange, was in existence or not ”

“ Such deception is practised upon third persons, not upon those whose names are forged. Were a man indicted for representing a forged will to be a genuine one, with intent to defraud a person shown to be dead, or never to have been in rerum natura, it might bear upon the former point raised in this case. Upon this point they can have no bearing whatever. Unless the instrument charged to be forged is proved to be false, there can be no conviction for forgery. Unless, in this case, the policy is proved to be valid, we insist the same conclusion follows. ”

“ The seal of the State proves itself, and may also prove the truth of the certificate which it purports to sanction, but that certificate ought to show, in its terms, that it was affixed by some one having authority to affix it. ”

“ Johns, the Court held, it was essential to prove a valid subsisting policy.
As to the supposed analogous cases of forgery cited on the part of the prosecution, all cases of forgery necessarily imply, that the instruments are in themselves invalid; that they are false in reality is of the essence of the crime, which consists in the representation of such void instruments to be valid, with intent to deceive somebody. ”

“ They do not include the evidence of enactment, nor do they contain the attestation of those officers whose signatures are essential. These are constituent parts of every legislative act. They are all upon the original rolls. ”