S E L E C T C O M M I T T E E ON F I C T I T I O U S VOTES, IRELAND. ; 537C covered with water, that he must have had a boat to have gone round the boundary. ° u uie 13968. And of course it follows from that, that he saw the land in the winter season.-- His last time of seeing it was, of course, immediately preceding the spring registry, but he, as I recollect, knew all the land thereabout perfectly. . '. 39%; But as to the boundary of this farm, as he excused himself from giving the boundary of this farm by reason of its being under water, it must have been m the bad season of the year ?- Yes; but there could have been no mistake as to the land, because Derrivan stated that the five acres from which he claimed to vote were round his house, or immediately adjoining it • and Mr Dwyer applied his evidence to those five acres. 13970. You said that Mr. Dwyer was proprietor of a considerable tract of land?— Yes, he said himself 1,400 acres. 13971. How many do you recollect he occupied ?— I have no distinct recol- lection as to the number of acres he occupied; but if I were to venture upon any opinion upon what he said, I should say the whole, or the greater part of it; but I do not profess to say how much he occupied. The answer was this : Mr. Daly, I think, asked him what land he had, or how he knew the value of land; and he said, " I happen to have 1,400 acres of my own;" I think those were the words he used. 13972. Was he not asked how many acres he occupied?— I do not remember that; I do not think he was. 13973- Would it surprise you if it were distinctly proved that he said, though he was landlord of so many acres of land, his own occupation only extended to five, or from that to ten acres ?— I should be very much surprised ; because, so far as I can depend upon my own memory, I am certain he could not have said so. 13974- Will you undertake to say positively that he did not say so ?— Cer- tainly not; I say as far as I can depend upon my memory ; but a positive assertion, at this distance of time, I cannot make. 13975. Then you will not so far depend upon your memory as to make the assertion positively ?— Certainly not; but that can be effectually compensated for; for Mr. Kelly, the barrister, who is in attendance, I believe has a short- hand note of what was stated in all these cases, and he cannot be mistaken, though I might. 13976. Now as to John Delany ; do you recollect whether he admitted that at 15.9. an acre, which was the rent payable by Derrivan, Derrivan must have some profit over that rent ?— I have no doubt that, if Delany were asked the question, he did say so ; I have no doubt he had some profit over the 15 s. 13977. Do you recollect how long Gill stated he had been in possession; how long his mother was dead ?— I do not recollect exactly, but it was some years, probably five or six. 13978. Might it not have been 16 or 18 ?— It might have been more or less; it was several years, but the exact number I do not remember. 13979. Did he not state, upon his oath, that he had been in possession from the death of his mother to the time of his coming to register?— He did, certainly. 13980. And in the exclusive possession as occupier claiming under the lease? — I do not think he said he was in the exclusive possession; he certainly was in possession from his mother's death, for his mother died several years before, and he was in possession ever since. _ ^ _ _ i 13981. Do you recollect whether he stated he was an only child?— I think he did. 13982. You say you did not at that time conceive that Mr. Gibson intended any deception when he read the name in the lease as that of James Gill. No, certainly not; if he had intended any deception he would not have given me the lease, certainly not. If that rule of Mr. Gibson's were erroneous, further than depriving the opposing counsel of seeing erasures and fabrications upon the face of the instrument, the whole harm that could be done by it was that Mr. Gibson himself was often unable to read them; they are greatly defaced and discoloured from the way in which they are kept; and there is no oppor- tunity of detecting any fraud, inasmuch as it is not the interest of the claim- ant's counsel to make it known if it appears, nor would it have been Ins duty ; 643. u u 4 an V yy / G. Battersby, Esq. 26 June 1838.