refused to suffer the question to be asked, saying, that if the defendant wished to challenge the jurors for favor he might do so.

Mr. Alexander, a witness for the United States, upon being asked by the Court what knowledge he had of the handwriting of the prisoner, said that he had, as a justice of peace, seized a book of accounts, which the prisoner acknowledged to be in his handwriting; that he examined the handwriting in the book, which he had in his possession only about fifteen minutes ; that he also saw, in Mrs. Cas-sin’s possession, a piece of writing which the prisoner acknowledged to be his; and had, since the prisoner was confined in jail, received two notes from the prisoner; that bis.only knowledge of the prisoner’s handwriting was derived from those circumstances; that he could only swear that the check was like what he had seen.

*372Mr. Key and Mr. Dorsey objected to this testimony, and cited M’Nally, 417, (Yates’s opinion;) and Peake’s Evidence, 67.

Mr. Jones, contra, cited Esp. N. P. 144; 1 Bl. Rep. 384.

The Court said that Mr. Alexander’s testimony was not evidence of the handwriting of the prisoner.

Verdict, not guilty.