lost, under the stat. 9th and 10th III. c. 17; but equity would probably extend these to indorsements; and Sd and 4th Anne, c. 9, it is thought, extends the same to notes. (Chitty, p. 196.) 12114, As to foreign bills, the drawee should attend to whether they are to be paid with or wit• out farther advice; since the propriety of his ac cepting or paying will, in the one case, depend on his having received advice. The more carefully all these requisites are attended to, the greater is the security of all concerned against accidents and liti gation. But traders, we fear, have too generally a prejudice in favour of that brevity which approaches to looseness of expression, and against that preci sion which alone can keep them out of difficulties.
When a bill, check, or note, is payable on demand, or when no time of payment is expressed, it should be presented within a reasonable time ,after receipt, and is payable on presentment, without the allow ance of any days of grace. It is yet unsettled (Chitty, 844, et seq.) whether bills drawn at sight are entitled to days of grace, though the weight of authority is rather in favour of them. If drawn at one or more days after sight, the days of grace must be allowed. The day on which a bill is dated is not reckoned one ; but all bills having days of grace, becomedue and must be presented and protested , on the third :lay, and if that day be a Sunday or ho• liday, on the second. The rule for giving notice of non-acceptance or non-payment is different, since, if the day on which it should have been given be a day of rest, by the religion of the party, such as the Jews' Sabbath, the notices will be good if given on the next day. Calendar months are always under stood with respect to bills; and if dated on the 29th, 80th, or 81 at of January, payable one month after date, they will fall due on the last day of February, from which the days of grace are to be calculated. Presentments of bills should be made within business hours. These are generally considered to be in Lon don from nine morning to six evening, but a protest has been held good against an ordinary trader when made at eight. This would not have been good in the case of bankers, whose hours (from nine to five in London) must be attended to. In Edinburgh,
bankers' hours are from ten to three; traders' from ten to three, and from six to eight; but there are no Scotch decisions holding these as the only business hours. A verbal notice of the dishonour of an in land bill is good; but as such notice is always matter of parole evidence, it is better in every case to give notice in writing; and the regular mode of doing so is by post. Such notice, if put into the general post-office, or an authorised receiving-house, is rod though it miscarry, provided the letter be regularly booked, and reasonable proof be made of its having been put into the post-office. If given only to a bellman in the street, it would not in such a case be good. When there is no poet, the ordinary mode of conveyance, such as the first ship or carrier, is suffi cient. As to foreign bills, notices of dishonour, with the respective protests, must be despatched by post on the day when the bills become due, or on which acceptance was refused, if any post or or dinary conveyance set out that day, and if not, by the next earliest conveyance. (Chitty, 291.) As to inland bills, notice should be made by the first post after the expiry of the day, when the parties re side at a distance; if in the same tewn, it is -enough . if the notice be made so as to be received within business hours of the following day; and this may be done by the twopenny or penny post, if receivable within the time mentioned. When a holder deposits his bill at his banker's, the number of persons entit led to notice is increased by one; and each party in succession is entitled to twenty-four hours for giv. ing notice. (6 East 3. Bell, 263.) Such notice, as to inland bills, is necessary in England for pre serving recourse as to the principal sum only. If protest be made, and notice given within fourteen days, the recourse is preserved as to interest, da mages, and expenses. In Scotland a protest is ne. cessary in every case; and there is no distinction made as to the mode of recourse between principal and interest; but intimation to the drawer within fourteen days preserves recourse for the whole (Bell, Vol. II. p. 265); and it has been decided, that no tice to an indorser may be good even after the four teen days, if there has been no unnecessary delay, ( Fac. Col. 2d June 1812.) But this applies only to inland bills, and a bill drawn from Scotland upon England is in Scotland held to be foreign. (Bell. Vol. II. p. 265.) Every bill should be presented for payment on the day upon which it falls due, unless that be rendered impossible by some unforeseen and inevitable accident, such as shipwreck, or sudden ill ness, or death. To preserve recourse, the accident, and the presentment of the bill as soon as possible afterwards, must be intimated without delay, and, if denied, proved by thewho seeks recourse. The same doctrine will ti as to presentments for non-acceptance, and notices of dishonour. But the loss or destruction of a bill is no excuse for not demanding payment and protesting; the pro test in that case being made upon a copy or state ment of the bill, if the party who has right to hold the bill has it in his power to mak7such a statement. If the destruction of the bill can be proved, action will be sustained in a court of law; if not, the re dress is got upon giving an indemnity in a court of equity ; but as equity will not interfere where law can, it is of importance in such a case, and indeed in all cases of difficulty, to resort at once to the best professional advice. Inconsiderate attempts to re medy neglects, or cure what is defective, generally make the case worse, and often implicate character. Cases of great hardship and difficulty frequently arose on bills granted partly for usurious considera tion. A mighty benefit, however, has now been conferred by the statute 58th Geo. III. c. 93, which enacts, " That no bill of exchange or promissory-note that shall be drawn or made after the passing of this act shall, though it may have been given for a usurious consideration, or upon a usurious contract, be void in the hands of an indorses for valuable consideration, unless such an indorsee had, at the time of discount ing or paying such consideration for the same, actual notice that such bill, &c. had been originally given for a usurious Consideration, or upon a usurious con tract." It is much to be regretted, that the same protection was not extended by this statute to the Innocent holder of a bill granted for a game debt. Such bills are still void in the hands of a bona fide indorsee. In Scotland it has been decided other wise. (25th January 1740, Nielson ; Bell, Vol. IL p. 210.) The rage for legislation has not yet es.