SELECT COMMITTEE ON FICTITIOUS VOTES, IRELAND. , ^ j / J / j tVf be- t! 1P Certainly went with a disposition to ascertain the value so as to give evidence here, and it mattered not whether the voterwereinhe Liberal interest or not; if they had not the value, I would state it 303O. You had no more satisfaction in finding that they were of the value than you would in finding that they were not of " the value ?- I had more a faction certainly in finding that they had value. S" Then you had a predisposition in your mind that it should turn out that they were of the value ?— I had. 3038. That was the state of your mind when you went out5— It was 3039. Under those circumstances, do you think it is a satisfactory ground tor this Committee to act upon the judgment of a man whose mind was pre- disposed one way, without his stating to them the facts upon which he formed his judgment ?— I am ready to state any facts connected with the question 3040. If you were a juryman, would you think it a ground upon which to act .-— Certainly not as a juryman ; and in this case, upon the valuation, I went as a juryman ; I went as if I were upon the valuation jury, which I have been frequently on in the city of Cork, with large properties, in opening the wide streets and in valuing houses to a great extent. 3041. If you were a juryman, and a witness came before you who acknow- ledged that he went out with a predisposition upon his mind" to take one new of the subject, and if he only gave you his judgment of the value without the facts and circumstances upon which he founded it, would you think that a safe pound upon which to form your judgment as a juryman"?— Certainly not as a juryman. If I thought that the predisposition tended to weaken the evidence of the man, I would not pay attention to it; but a man may be a plaintiff's or a defendant's witness, and have a predisposition in that way, and still tell fairly the truth. 3042. Do not you think it would be a much safer ground for a jury, or any other tribunal that had to form a judgment upon the value, to act upon, if they had the facts and circumstances upon which the evidence was founded, than to act upon the testimony of a witness who gives only the result of his opinion without facts and circumstances ?— I think that is a correct view of it. 3043. Mr. Serjeant Jackson.] Do you not consider that you yourself are a person of rather a sanguine temperament ?— I am. 3044. That when you espouse a cause you espouse it with all your heart ?— I do indeed. 3045. You are particularly zealous and anxious about the Liberal interest in the city of Cork ?— Most anxious. 3046. You would do everything in your power to promote the Liberal interest in Cork ?— I would. . Mr. D. Meagher. 26 February 1838. have no influence upon me laei 10 ue amvcu ux m mj umm, * ----- fairly and justly at the truth ; I admit my feeling was that things should turn out as represented, but if they had turned out otherwise, I would most unques- tionably have put it down. 3048. Are not you aware, from your knowledge of human nature, that, taking the most truth- loving man in the world, he is very prone to believe what he is anxious to believe upon lesser ground than would satisfy him in another case r — That is human nature. 04Q Mr. Curry. 1 At the time you examined those houses, did you look at them to enable you to form an opinion as to the actual value at the time of your examination ?— Most particularly so. . ^ , , 3050. Did the result of your examination satisfy you that they were of the value you have stated ?— Completely. oo- ii Though you have not the particulars in your book, you are now ena- bled to say as the result of your judgment at the time, that they— the value that you have represented ?- I am enabled to state so to the Committee. work we compared our books 3053. Mr. 0.46. b