Where the Court is not empowered to reject the evidence of its own motion, the objection upon which it can reject is the objection of a party to the suit, and doubtless of the patient, but not of the physician.[454] But because of the privilege, it has been held that a physician will not be ordered to turn over his books of account to a receiver appointed in proceedings supplementary to an execution on a judgment against him.[455] Nor will examination of his books of account before trial be compelled.[456] It is the province of the courts, however, to enforce the law and not to legislate by grafting exceptions upon it.[457] They have refused therefore to except, by judicial decision, from the operation of the law, criminal proceedings, testamentary causes, evidence of crime in civil actions, cases of lunacy and habitual drunkenness and fraud,[458] in all of which it was urged in argument without effect that the administration of justice was impeded by the privilege; but where the spirit of the law was violated by an enforcement of its letter and the privilege made a cloak to shield the murderer of the patient, it was held to be inapplicable.[459] The courts have also refused by mere judicial decision to limit the privilege to the life of the patient.[460] THE EFFECT OF ENFORCING THE PRIVILEGE. The courts are not warranted in admitting incompetent evidence in order to prevent the failure of justice by the exclusion of the privileged testimony. A letter written by a physician is inadmissible as evidence of the privileged facts which it states;[461] and a certificate of the cause of death, required by law to be signed by the physician and filed, is not admissible to prove the cause of death in an action in which the physician cannot testify.[462] The making of the objection does not raise a presumption against the person making it.[463] In Iowa it has been held that the patient should not be interrogated under oath as to whether or not he will waive his privilege, for the jury ought not to be prejudiced against him by any show of reluctance.[464] In Michigan, however, it has been held that a patient’s failure to produce his physician as a witness is a legitimate fact for the jury to consider.[465] THE CHARACTER AND WEIGHT OF THE EVIDENCE TO SUSTAIN THE OBJECTION. Where the objection is made, the burden of proof to establish the grounds of privilege is upon the person objecting.[466] In Missouri it has been said that the statement of the physician, that he cannot separate his impressions received in his relation of physician from those received at other times, is not in itself sufficient to justify the exclusion of his evidence; that the facts themselves must appear to the Court, and it might be developed on proper cross-examination that discrimination could be made.[467]