353 M I N U T E S OF E V I D E N C E T A K E N B E F O R E T I IE E. M. Kelly, Esq. • 2( j June 1838. IM fJ : •. 14437. Tlien you think the reason of his refusing the oath was the different nature of the affidavit from the oath he took before the barrister ?— I think that must have been the cause of it. 14438. Mr. Litton.'] Can you state any instances where the assistant barrister admitted parol evidence of deeds, without the claimant's producing the deeds? — The case of John Egan. . 14439. At which sessions was that?— That was at the sessions of October 1836 ; he claimed as a 10 I. freeholder; but the claimant produced 110 lease, only a memorandum from his landlord, Mr. Armstrong, of Portumna. 14440. What did that memorandum describe?— He was examined by Mr. Daly, to show the non- necessity for the production of his lease ; he said lie asked his landlord for his lease; that the landlord did not refuse it, but that he, the applicant, was satisfied when he got the paper which he held in his hand. The paper stated generally the terms of the lease; the quantity of ground, and the rent at which it was held ; it did not state the date. That was objected to by Mr. Julian, who is the solicitor on behalf of the Conservative party. He sub- mitted that this man should have persisted in claiming his lease ; that he should have told his landlord that it was for the purpose of the registry; and lie said it was not pretended that if he had done so, Mr. Armstrong would have refused him. That objection was over- ruled. 14441. The man was admitted to register upon that notwithstanding that objection was made ?— He was. 14442. Was the objection made that he should not be admitted ?— It was; the man was admitted upon all grounds ; there were other objections. 14443. Did you see the paper?— I saw the paper in the hands of the man; it was a mere slip of paper; it seemed to have been torn off half a sheet of paper, by the landlord, a mere memorandum. 14444. If there had been defects in the lease, such as you have described, and such as have been decided to invalidate it as an instrument, out of which a register can be had, could, from that memorandum, any of those defects have been discovered?— I should say not; the memorandum, for example, mentioned nothing about what stamp was upon the lease, so that it might have had no stamp at all. 14445. Did the man account for why he did not produce his own counterpart of the lease ?— He said there never was a counterpart executed; it turned out afterwards in his evidence that it was made to him jointly with others; he also stated, upon his cross- examination, that he heard his landlord, Mr. Armstrong'', read his lease the day before; that he read it for him ; he even said that he read it, every word, from beginning to end ; when he took out of it, he says, what is on the paper, which he, the applicant, now produces. 14446. Did he state that he had requested Mr. Armstrong to attend?— No, not at all; he merely asked him for the lease, but stated that he was perfectly satisfied when he got the memorandum which he produced ; he did not press the landlord in any other point of view ; he was quite satisfied when he got a memorandum. 14447. He did not give any evidence of even a request to Mr. Armstrong to attend ?— Certainly not. 14448. Have you any other cases of that kind ?— There are two more instances of that description ; one of them occurred at the same sessions,— William Whealan; this applicant produced a document of such a tattered de- scription that it was impossible to judge of the purport or effect of it,; it was quite illegible. He stated then, upon parol evidence, what the nature of the lease was; Mr. Julian objected, 011 behalf of the Conservatives, that as this person produced a document which bore upon the face of it no evidence of its contents, it was the same as if he produced 110 document, and that he should have taken the necessary steps to let in secondary evidence of the deed. His examination, for the purpose of making the deed evidence, was then continued by Mr. Daly; he stated that he had gone to the agent of Lord Rosse, who was his landlord, and that the agent looked at the paper which he produced, and said that it was all right; upon his examination by Mr. Julian, he stated that he did not ask the agent to produce the counterpart, but that he took what he, the agent, had said as a refusal to do so. 14449- Then it appeared that the agent had a counterpart?— The agent had a counterpart. 14450. Did ft 1 tf; .1 ; m j § ait: , Jjiitf] ai • l^ lt! Ifjfl I I » I # 1