¶1obser-ved, that this was an extraordinary case, much out of the usual course of things. That the evidence offered for the plaintiff, was very regular and proper, m *256case of the death or absence “from the state, of the sub-scriking witness to the bond, in order to let in the plaintiff, to Prove ^le hand-writing of the obligors. But, on the other hand, the affidavit of the witness himself, gave this affair, at least, such a suspicious appearance, that it would be improper to let it go to the jury, until the matter was cleared up.
¶2A commission was, therefore, directed to issue, to examine the witness to the bond, upon interrogatories and cross-interrogatories, to be put by the parties.