On Register and Witness

1. In matters of grain, land, or instruction, the first entry is only an intention to remember. The record acquires force when the person who made it, the mark that seals it, and the circumstance it names can still be brought together.

2. A register without witness becomes rhetoric; witness without a register becomes rumor. Administration begins where the two are made to meet under a known rule.

3. When doubt arises, preserve the sequence before preserving opinion. Date, hand, correction, and margin often resolve what argument cannot.