EVIDENCE, that which makes evi dent, which enables the mind to see truth. It may be intuitive, i. e., resting on the direct testimony of consciousness, of per ception or memory, or on fundamental principles of the human intellect; or it may be demonstrative, i. e., in a strict sense, proofs which establish with cer tainty as in mathematical science cer tain conclusions; or it may be probable, under which class are ranked moral evi dence, legal evidence, and generally every kind of evidence which, though it may be sufficient to satisfy the mind, is not an absolutely certain and incontrovertible demonstration.
In jurisprudence evidence is classified into that which is direct and positive, and that which is presumptive and cir cumstantial. The former is that which is proved by some writing containing a positive statement of the facts and bind ing the party whom it affects; or that which is proved by some witness, who has, and avers himself to have, positive knowledge thereof by means of his senses. Whenever the fact is not so directly and positively established, but is deduced from other facts in evidence, it is presumptive and circumstantial only.
The following are the leading rules re garding evidence in a court of law: (1) The point in issue is to be proved by the party who asserts the affirmative. But where one person charges another with a culpable omission this rule will not apply, the person who makes the charge being bound to prove it. (2) The best evidence must be given of which the nature of the thing is capable. (3) Hearsay evidence of a fact is not admis sible. The principal exceptions to this rule are: Death-bed declarations, evi dence in questions of pedigree, public right, custom boundaries, declarations against interest, declarations which ac company the facts or are part of the yes pests (things done), etc. (4) Insane persons and idiots are incompetent to be witnesses. But persons temporarily in sane are in their lucid intervals received as witnesses. Children are admissible as witnesses as soon as they have a com petent share of understanding and know and feel the nature of an oath and the obligation to speak the truth.