, John Bellingham, has been absent
somewhat under two years. This is a relatively short period, and in
itself gives rise to no presumption of death. Nevertheless, death has
been presumed in a case where the period of absence was even shorter and
the insurance recovered; but here the evidence supporting the belief in
the occurrence of death was exceedingly weighty.

"The testator in this case was a shipmaster, and his disappearance was
accompanied by the disappearance of the ship and the entire ship's
company in the course of a voyage from London to Marseilles. The loss of
the ship and her crew was the only reasonable explanation of the
disappearance, and, short of actual demonstration, the facts offered
convincing evidence of the death of all persons on board. I mention this
case as an illustration. You are not dealing with speculative
probabilities. You are contemplating a very momentous proceeding, and
you must be very sure of your ground. Consider what it is that you are
asked to do.

"The petitioner asks permission to presume the death of the testator in
order that the testator's property may be distributed among the
beneficiaries under the will. The granting of such permission involves
us in the gravest responsibility. An ill-considered decision might be
productive of a serious injustice to the testator, an injustice that
could never be remedied. Hence it is incumbent upon you to weigh the
evidence with the greatest care, to come to no decision without the
profoundest consideration of all the facts.

"The evidence that you have heard divides itself into two parts--that
relating to the circumstances of the testator's disappearance, and that
relating to certain human remains. In connection with the latter I can
only express my surprise and regret that the application was not
postponed until the completion of the coroner's inquest, and leave you
to consider the evidence. You will bear in mind that Doctor Summers has
stated explicitly that the remains cannot be identified as those of any
particular individual, but that the testator and the unknown deceased
had so many points of resemblance that they might possibly be one and
the same person.

"With reference to the circumstances of the disappearance, you have
heard the evidence of Mr. Jellicoe to the effect that the testator has
on no previous occasion gone abroad without informing him as to his
proposed destination. But in considering what weight you are to give t