Opinion
DECEMBER TERM, 1797.
THE plaintiff resided in the Havanna, and was the agent of the defendants in fitting out a privateer for them, during the war. On the trial of this cause, he produced, and swore to the authenticity of, his book of original entries (some of which were made in his own hand-writing, and some in the hand-writing of a clerk) to prove the disbursements for the privateer.
And the COURT admitted the evidence, after opposition, upon the principle, that as it related to a mercantile transaction, which took place in a foreign country, a relaxation of the strict rules of the common law, was reasonable, just, and necessary.