It is to be considered, also, that the sailor comes into court under
very different circumstances from the master. He is thrown among
landlords, and sharks of all descriptions; is often led to drink
freely; and comes upon the stand unaided, and under a certain cloud of
suspicion as to his character and veracity. The captain, on the
other hand, is backed by the owners and insurers, and has an air of
greater respectability; though, after all, he may have but a little
better education than the sailor, and sometimes, (especially among
those engaged in certain voyages that I could mention) a very
hackneyed conscience.
These are the considerations most commonly brought up on the subject
of seamen's evidence; and I think it cannot but be obvious to every
one that here, positive legislation would be of no manner of use.
There can be no rule of law regulating the weight to be given to
seamen's evidence. It must rest in the mind of the judge and jury; and
no enactment or positive rule of court could vary the result a hair,
in any one case. The effect of a sailor's testimony in deciding a case
must depend altogether upon the reputation of the class to which he
belongs, and upon the impression he himself produces in court by his
deportment, and by those infallible marks of character which always
tell upon a jury.
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