The Same Cause

Syllabus

The Same Cause. In the course of the trial the following points were ruled by the Court. I. The Attorney of the District proposed to prove, that a circular letter had been written at Canonsburgh, on the 28th of July 1794, by several leaders of the insurrection, calling upon the militia officers, and other citizens, to assemble at Bradock’s field on the 1st of August following, with arms, ammunition, and provisions;—that the witness had seen the original letter, which was left with him, under instructions to pass it on to another person;—and that the copy now produced was conformable, in substance, to the original. But it was objected, by the counsel for the prisoner, that before a copy of the letter could be given in evidence, the loss of the original must be proved ; and even then the witness must be able to attest, that he had compared them, and that the copy offered was in all respects correct. It was answered, by the Attorney of the District, that from the general circulation of the letter, copies must have been multiplied, and during a season of such confusion (to which the common rules of evidence are entirely inapplicable) it is impracticable to trace the comparison of any one copy with the original.