Mrs.  John  D.  O'Bannon,  another  sister,  also  testified  before
that  he  said  he  saw  them  and  named  the  same  writers.  But
she  too  now  drops  one  of  the  aunts,  and  she  does  not  state
that  he  said  he  saw  the  letters.  Her  language  is  that  he  said
''the  reason  they  refused  to  pay  the  full  amount  was  from  the
fact  they  had  received  letters  from  my  uncle,  Mr.  Barrett,
and  my  aunts,  Mrs.  Lea  and  Mrs.  Steam,  saying  that  mother
had  died  from  cancer;"  and  again  ''that  he  found  letters  there."
Neither  of  these  forms  of  expression  necessarily  imports  that
he  8aw  them.  They  might  well  be  used  to  mean  only  that
from  credible  information,  or  by  inference  from  what  he
observed,  he  was  satisfied  the  company  had  letters;  and  con-
sidering that  the  very  gist  of  the  inquiry  was  whether  he  said
he  saw  them — pledged  his  {personal  veracity  for  the  statement
that  such  letters  had  been  written — and  presuming  as  we  may,
that  counsel  and  witness  so  understood,  it  looks  as  if  her  con-
science would  not  allow  her,  on  reflection,  to  swear,  as  bef ore,
that  he  did.
Third  District — November   Term,  1889.  505

O'Bannon  v.  Vifnu.
The  only  other  witness  by  whom  the  alleged  statement  was
OF  is  claimed  to  have  been  proved  was  John  D.  O'Bannon,
the  hasband  of  the  one  last  referred  to  and  son  of  the  de-
oeased.  He  had  an  ^^  impression  "  that  his  father  represented
that  he  had  seen  snch  letters  from  two  of  the  aunts  named,
bnt  which  two  he  did  not  understand.  He  appeared  to  be
candid,  bnt  was  not  clear  and  positive.
