Notary Public—False Certificate of Acknowledgment of Forged Deed—Liability on Bond.—A notary public who has made a false certificate of acknowledgment of a forged deed, the true name of the person who signed the deed being other than the name signed thereto, who was an impostor personating the true owner of the lot, and who sold and conveyed the land to the plaintiffs, is liable on his official bond to the plaintiffs for all damages thereby sustained.

Id.—Sufficiency of Evidence to Show Falsity of Certificate—Negative Proof.—Where the surety company relied- wholly on the language of the certificate of the notary, the evidence to show its falsity must necessarily be of a negative character; and where it was shown conclusively that the true owner did not sign or acknowledge the certificate, that no person of his name was known to reside in the place where the acknowledging person received his mail, and agreed to sell and convey the land to plaintiffs, and that the only person of the same name as that of the true owner known to reside in that county did not sign or acknowledge the same, such evidence, taken in connection with other circumstances showing the preponderance of probabilities fairly deducible therefrom, was sufficient to sustain the finding of the court that the certificate of the notary was false.

Id.—Slight Evidence Sufficient to Shift Burden of Proof.—Whether or not the name of the impostor who forged the deed was in truth of the same name as that of the true owner, and known to the notary, were facts peculiarly within his knowledge; and plaintiffs should not be required to produce other than slight evidence, in order to shift the burden of proof upon the notary and his surety, to show that the certificate was not false by proof other than the mere language of the certificate.

Id.—Eemedy of Plaintiffs—Bank Check Paid to Impostor—Proximate Cause of Loss—Negligence not Intervening.—The plain- ' tiffs could not be remitted to any remedy against the bank whose cheek payable to the impostor was given by their direction; but, having been deceived as to his identity by the false certificate of acknowledgment by the notary, which was the proximate cause of their loss, without any intervening negligence of anyone contributing thereto, their proper remedy was against the notary and the surety on his official bond.