you must protest for Non-payment Bill without Assignment IN like manner if you have a Bill of Exchange sent to you to get to be accepted payable to another Man and the Bill being accepted and due you have not an Assignment on the Bill from the Party to whom it is payable ordering it to be paid unto you according to Custom of Merchants you must make demand of the Mony upon that accepted Bill without an Assignment and you must offer to give Security to save harmless against the Party to whom the Bill is made payable and all others and if your Proffer be refused you must protest for Non-payment No such Man to be found IF your Bill of Exchange be directed suppose to Nathaniel Q. Merchant in London and you shall have enquir'd on the Royal Exchange and other parts of the City for such a Merchant and shall not be able to find him out or any body that knows him or that indeed there be none of that Name in London then you must carry your Bill to a Notary publick and he must protest thereupon in due form No body at home IF a Bill of Exchange is sent you to get accepted and there be no body at home at the House or Place of abode of the Party on whom the Bill is drawn Or if when your Bill is due you cannot meet the Party at home nor any one else to pay the Mony on his behalf you must cause Protest to be made either for Non-acceptance or Non-payment at his Dwelling-house or Lodging in his Absence which is as effectual according to the known Law of Merchants and the Rules of Equity being made in seasonable time as if the same had been made speaking to him in Person for you cannot be bound it being beyond your power to make him on whom the Bill is drawn abide at home but in reason he is bound to attend his own business at seasonable hours and it concerns him to keep a good Correspondence with his Friends especially in matters of Bills of Exchange whereof he cannot be ignorant No avoiding a Protest AND the truth is if no Protest could be made legally but in speaking to the Party himself a Protest might be prevented at pleasure but it lies not in the power of him on whom a Bill is drawn to hinder the protesting of the Bill if not by him accepted and paid according to the tenour thereof Figures and Words disagreeing A Bill of Exchange tho written in few Words and contain'd in a small piece of Paper yet is of great Weight and Concern in point of Trade between Merchant and Merchant and therefore ought to be writ very plain and legible and without any Blots Mending or altering any word thereof that so there may not arise any Doubt or Scruple in the Payment thereof And therefore it is that Merchants do usually write the Sum to be paid as well in figures as in words at length as you may observe in the several Forms of Bills of Exchange contained in this Treatise And if it so fall out through Inadvertency or otherwise that the Figures and the Words at length of the Sum that is to be paid upon a Bill of Exchange do not agree together if either the Figures do mention more and the Words less or the Figures do specifie less and the Words more in either or in any such case you ought to observe and follow the order of the Words at length and not in Figures until further order be had concerning the same because a Man is more apt to commit an Errour with his Pen in writing a Figure than in writing a Word And also because the Figures at the top of the Bill do only as it were serve as the Contents of the Bill and a Breviat thereof but the Words at length are in the Body of the Bill of Exchange and are the chief and principal Substance thereof whereunto special regard ought to be had and tho it may so fall out that the Sum mention'd in Figures in the Letter of Advice and the Sum mention'd in Figures in the Bill of Exchange do agree yet if the Words at length in the same Bill do differ you ought to follow the order mention'd in Words at length in the Bill and not the order in Figures for the Reasons before alleg'd A Name mended or interlined IF the Name of the Person to whom a Bill of Exchange is made payable chance to be mended or interlin'd in the Bill and the same be accepted by the Person upon whom it is drawn tho it is an Error and justly to be reproved especially in Merchants which indeed doth seldom happen yet the same cannot be a sufficient Excuse for the Party who hath accepted it or any legal warrant for him to refuse Payment thereof at the time unto the Party whose Name is mended or interlin'd in the Bill or unto his Order by his Assignment if the Bill was so mended before it was accepted and be made payable to him or his Assigns for he could not chuse but take notice of the Error when he accepted the Bill and ought to have satisfi'd himself therein before he accepted it if he say it hath been mended or interlin'd since he accepted it he must prove that Bill payable positively to such a Man BUT if the Bill be made payable positively to such a Man and not to such a Man or his Assigns or Order then an Assignment on the Bill will not serve turn but the Mony must be immediately paid to such a Man in person and he must be known to be the same Man mention'd in the Bill of Exchange that so the Mony may not be paid to a wrong Person and the Acceptor forc'd to pay it twice And if the Bill be made payable positively to such a Man as hath been before observ'd such a Man's Name writ on the backside of the Bill in blank is no sufficient warrant for another Man to come as in his name to receive the Mony but the Man himself to whom the Bill is payable must appear in person Bill without Direction IN case a Bill of Exchange do come without a Direction on it that is if it be not directed to any Man only the Drawer has set his Name to it but not directed it to the Party on whom he design'd to charge it yet if in his Letter of Advice to his Friend to whom the Bill is payable or to whom it is sent to get accepted the Bill is mention'd to be drawn on such a Man naming a Man's Name this Friend to whom the Bill is sent ought to present the Bill to that Man to be accepted according to Advice And in case he shall refuse to accept it because it is not directed to him the Party to whom the Bill was sent ought to make Protest for Non-acceptance for he protests against the Drawer in not having taken sufficient care that the Bill might be accepted by some body according
to Custom and the Drawer is justly to bear the Charges thereof for his Omission and Oversight tho I cannot see but if the Party to whom the Bill is presented to be accepted have likewise Advice thereof and sufficient ground or reason to have accepteed it if the Bill had had a Direction on it to himself he may accept the Bill altho the Direction to him be omitted but it must be confess'd it is an Oversight and an Error in the Drawer in omitting to direct his Bill of Exchange and if his Friend do suffer it to be protested I conceive he shall have sufficiently punish'd him for his Error The Drawer repays the Value upon Protest IF a Bill of Exchange be made payable to one Man for the Value receiv'd of another and the Party on whom the Bill is drawn hath accepted it but when it falls due fails in the Payment whereupon Protest is made and by virtue of this Protest the Party who deliver'd the Value recovers Satisfaction of the Drawer In this case the Drawer is freely discharg'd against the Party or Parties to whom the said Bill was made payable either immediately in the Bill or mediately by Assignment or Assignments were they never so many upon it So that neither he to whom the Bill was first made payable nor any other to whom it shall be assign'd in any manner whatever ought to molest or trouble the Drawer or legally according to the Law of Merchants can sue or prosecute the Drawer he having already repay'd the Mony to the right Party whose Receipt and Discharge for the same is a sufficient Release from all further Trouble which may happen Neither can he to whom the Bill is first made payable if but an Assigne of the Deliverer prosecute the Acceptor after the Drawer has given Satisfaction to the Party who deliver'd the Value no more than my Assign can protest and prosecute a Surety upon a Bond payable to me or my Assigns after I have receiv'd Satisfaction from the Principal for tho I must confess in this case the Acceptor is not totally discharg'd for it is suppos'd he did accept the Bill by order of the Drawer or for some other account to whom therefore he must be responsible Yet in reference to the Party who first deliver'd the Value and the Party to whom the Bill was payable supposing himself to be but an Assigné of the Deliverer the Acceptor doth but confirm what the Drawer has done and the Drawer having made Refaction to the Deliverer the Acceptor is likewise discharg'd against the Deliverer and against the Party to whom the Bill was first payable if he be but an Assigné but the Acceptor by virtue of his Acceptance makes himself Debitor and is still liable to the Drawer or to the accompt for which he accepted the Bill till satisfaction be given Letters of Credit THE chiefest means of Correspondence and Trade between Merchant and Merchant from one Place or Country to another doth consist and is born up by Letters missive from one to the other which Letters if not countermanded are binding and may serve for sufficient proof according to the Law of Merchants in case of dispute and therefore it is that Merchants do usually keep Copies of their Letters which they write to their Correspondents by which they know how to order their affairs and to whom they are bound and these Letters have divers appellations tho they serve all for Advice and Order yet some are more particularly call'd Letters of Commission others Letters of Advice others are call'd Freight-Letters and others Letters of Credit Letters of Commission are for buying or selling of Goods freighting Ships taking up Mony or remitting Mony by Exchange or the like Letters of Advice are such as I write to my Friend Servant Correspondent or Principal advising them of Monies drawn or remitted by Exchange Freight-Letters are such as are written upon the Freighting or taking to Freight any Ship or Vessel or any Tunnage thereof informing what Tunnage is taken to freight and what Freight is to be paid for the same Letters of Credit are properly such as are written to furnish Monies by Exchange upon the Credit of him who writes the Letter these Letters of Credit in regard they do more immediately concern the Credit and Honour of the Party who writes the same supposing him to be a Merchant or Trader whose best and chiefest Subsistance is Credit must needs be of greatest concern and most binding by or from the Party or Parties who under-write or subscribe the same to those to whom they are directed or who are concern'd therein in case he or they shall comply therewith because the Credit of him who under-writes the Letter is thereby vindicated and his Honour Repute and Esteem much manifested Now Letters of Credit for the furnishing of Monies by Exchange are of two sorts the one General the other Special The General Letter of Credit is when I write my open Letter directed to all Merchants and others that shall furnish Monies to such and such Persons upon this my Letter of Credit in and by which I bind my self that what Monies shall be by them deliver'd unto the Party or Parties therein mention'd within such a time at such and such Rates or in general terms at the Price currant I do thereby bind my self to be accountable and answerable for the same to be repaid according to the Bill or Bills of Exchange which upon receipt of the Mony so furnish'd shall be given or deliver'd for the same and if any Mony be furnish'd upon such my General Letter of Credit and Bills of Exchange therefore given and charg'd drawn or directed to me altho when the Bills come to hand and are presented to me I should refuse to accept thereof yet according to the Custom of Merchants I am bound and liable to the payment of those Bills of Exchange by virtue and force of such my General Letter of Credit because he or they who furnish the Mony have not so much if any respect to the Sufficiency or Ability of the Party who takes up the Mony as to me who have given my Letter of Credit for the same and upon whose Credit meerly those Monies may be properly said to have been deliver'd The Special Letter of Credit is when a Merchant at the Request of another Man writes his open Letter of Credit directed to his Factor Agent or Correspondent giving him order to furnish such or such a Man by name with such or such a Sum of Mony at one or more times and charge it to accompt of the Merchant who gives the Letter of Credit and takes Bills of Exchange or Receipts for the same Particular Letters of Credit are usually writ and subscribed with the own hand of the Merchant that grants them wherein it is very expedient as well for the certainty of him who is to furnish the Monies that he may be sure the Letters come directly from the
3. The Party that is to pay the Bill for the Taker directs the Bill to his Friend or Servant to pay the same Now this way of Exchange is very useful according as occasion may be For suppose I were to go from London to Plimouth there to employ some Monies in the buying of some Coromodity I deliver my Monies here in London to some body who gives me his Bill of Exchange on his Friend Factor or Servant at Plimouth payable to my self so I carry the Bill along with me and receive my Mony my self by virtue thereof at Plimouth Another way wherein only three Persons are needful in the Negotiation of Monies by Exchange namely First the Drawer Secondly the Party on whom it is drawn Thirdly the Party to whom it is payable 1. The Drawer having Monies in his hands belonging to the Party to whom he orders the Bill to be paid doth make a Bill of Exchange himself confessing the value received in his own hand 2. Charging it on his Friend or Factor 3. Payable to the Party to whom he was indebted There is yet one way more wherein Monies may be remitted by Exchange only with the help of three Persons 1. The Taker 2. The Deliverer 3. The Party to whom payable As thus If I were at Dartmouth or Exon and intended to come to London I would take up Monies by Exchange at Dartmouth or Exon and subscribe Bills of Exchange for the same confessing the Value received of the Deliverer directed or drawn on my self payable to whom the Deliverer should appoint in London Two Persons to make an Exchange LIkewise a Parcel of Money may be done by Exchange between two Persons First the Drawer and secondly the Party on whom it is drawn the Drawer he makes a Bill of Exchange payable to himself or Order for the Value in himself and subscribes the Bill and directs it to the Party that owes him Money and is to pay it by Exchange by which Bill when the Party on whom it is drawn hath accepted it he becometh Debtor to the Drawer and he before the Bill falls due doth negotiate the Parcel with another Man and so draws in the Money at the place where he liveth and makes only an Assignment on the Bill payable to him of whom he hath received the Value The Usefulness of framing Bills of Exchange after these several Forms before-mentioned will be found out according as each Man's Occasion shall present in his Trade and Commerce by Exchange which is so necessary that there is fearce a Merchant but at some time or other one way or other doth either receive or pay Monies by Bills of Exchange All these manner of Exchanges before-mentioned are termed Real Exchange because it is a thing really done and the Mony really Exchanged from one place to another There are other Exchanges of Monies so called but improperly as Dry Exchange Feigned or Imaginary Exchange Small or Petty Exchange Dry Exchange DRY Exchange is when I having occasion for Monies desire a Banker to lend me 100 l. at Interest for a certain time the Banker unwilling to deliver at Interest offers me 100 l. by Exchange for Amsterdam whereunto I agree but not having any Correspondence there the Banker bids me make my Bills of Exchange for so much Mony to be paid at double or treble Usance at Amsterdam by any imaginary Body at the Price the Exchange shall there go at which I do the time being run out comes a Protest from Amsterdam for Non-payment with their Exchange of the Mony from Amsterdam to London all which with Costs I must repay him here in London for the Mony he lent me Feigned Exchange FEigned Exchange is when I ow a Banker Monies and have none at present to pay I desire time the Banker grants it me but I am to pay him his Mony by Exchange at the time at Rouen yet we are agreed between our selves that if I pay it him here in London at the time then I am free otherwise I am bound as above In the interim the Banker writes to his Friend at Rouen that against such a time he send him from thence a Bill of Exchange for the like Sum feigning that he oweth it him there After the time is expired comes a Bill of Exchange from Rouen to pay here so much as he owed there with the Rechange all which the Banker puts to my Accompt and per our Agreement will force me to pay in case I do not pay him here at the time agreed upon Petty Exchange PEtty Exchange is the Changing of one sort of Mony for another as to exchange 20 s. in Silver for 21 s. in Brass or Copper Farthings and the like But these three last-mentioned kinds of Exchanges I intend not to insist upon in this ensuing Treatise in regard they are not so commendable as the Real Exchange nor as I conceive much practised in these parts PAIR PAir as the French call it is to equalize match or make even the Mony of Exchange from one place with that of another when I take up so much Mony per Exchange in one place to pay the just Value thereof in other kind of Mony in another place without having respect to the price currant of Exchange for the same but only to what the Monies are worth and do currantly pass for in each place according whereunto is easily found out the Profit and Loss which from time to time is made in whatever Parcels of Mony drawn or remitted by Exchange and it is likewise delivering Mony at Pair when there is received in one Town just so much Mony as was delivered by Exchange in another Town as when I deliver by Exchange 100 l. sterling at York to receive 100 l. sterling at London which is done only by the Loss of time For what Parts the Exchange is made THE Price of Exchange of Monies from one Country to another is usually made from and to the most eminent Cities or Towns in each Place or Country where Commerce and Trade is held between Merchants in Exchange of Monies and the Trade ceasing at any Town the Price currant for Exchange for that Town ceases with it As for instance when the English Merchant-Adventurers had their Factors and Company at Delft then there was a Price currant of Exchange from London to Delft but the Company removing from Delft to Rotterdam where they are at present there is now no Price currant of Exchange from London to Delft but from London to Rotterdam Upon what the Exchange is valued NOW most Countries using several kinds of Monies different in Value one from another the Exchange is valued or rated upon some one certain most considerable Species or sort of Mony for each Country or Town as followeth The Exchange of Monies from London to Antwerp Amsterdam Middleborough Lisle and Rotterdam is usually accounted and valued on the Pound sterling of 20 s. English Mony that is to say to pay after the
draught made by his Friend upon him whose right another man cannot give away and therefore cannot refuse or discharge the acceptance and when the Bill is due according to the time therein limited I mean the time mentioned in the Bill of Exchange the party to whom the said Bill is payable or his Assigns must demand payment thereof accordingly and in default thereof a second Protest must be made for non-payment and then he may in sending away the Protest but keeping the Bill by him receive the Mony for which it is accepted or at the time it is accepted at unless he have express order to the contrary from the party which did remit the Mony whose order he ought to follow Receive part AND if the Bill be accepted to pay but part of the Mony mentioned in the Bill as is before declared Or that it be accepted in due form for the whole sum but when the Bill falls due the whole sum be not presently paid then you may receive so much Mony as will then be paid thereupon and you may likewise make a receipt on the backside of the Bill for so much Mony as you have received in part of payment thereof But you must presently Protest for non-payment of the remaining sum according as is already here before declared and the receiving part of the Monies upon the Bill doth no ways weaken the Bill or the making Protest for not payment of the remainder or any legal course to be taken for recovery thereof either against the Drawer or Acceptor but it rather strengthens the same for there will be less behind to be paid and it will serve to prove it a real debt in regard there is part thereof already paid Bill accepted by another man MOreover if a Bill of Exchange be drawn on John A. and he refuse to accept it Or if John A. be out of Town and have left no legal order for acceptance thereof by Letter of Attorney under his hand and seal in due form And that William C. a Friend of the Drawers will accept the Bill for honour of the Drawer In either of these cases the party to whom the said Bill is payable or his Assigns ought in the first place to cause Protest to be made for non-acceptance by John A. and then he may take the acceptance of William C. for honour of the Drawer for otherwise the Drawer may alledge that he did not draw the Bill on William C. but on John A. and therefore according to custom of Merchants diligence ought to be first used towards John A. and by Protest legally to prove his want of acceptance Or else Order and Commission is broken and so the damage which may happen for want of having the acceptance of John A. or his refusal for not having given order will be put upon him who had the Bill sent unto him to be gotten accepted for you ought to respect your Friends good as your own How to reckon the time A Bill of Exchange dated the second of March new stile which is the twentieth of February old stile except in Leap-year which will be then the twenty first of February payable in London at double usance will be due the two and twentieth of April old stile and not the twentieth of April as some do erroniously imagine who would deduct the ten days to reduce the new stile to old stile at the end of the double usance and so they would go as far as the second of May new stile and then go backwards ten days when of right they should go forwards from the date of old stile relating to the place where it is payable and reckon the double usance from the very date of the Bill thus A Bill dated the second of March new stile is the twentieth of February old stile February having but twenty eight days for the twentienth of February old stile is the second of March new stile even to the very day of the week so from the twentieth of February to the twenty third of March is one usance and from the twenty third of March to the twenty second of April there is another usance and so in like manner if a Bill of Exchange be dated the tenth of March new stile which is the last of February old stile payable at treble usance such a Bill will be due the last of May in London and not the twenty eighth of May as some do imagine because February hath but twenty eight days Also if a Bill be dated the eighth of January in Rouen payable at double usance in London it will fall due the twenty sixth of February and if from that date payable at treble usance it will fall due the twenty ninth of March as is manifest by the Almanack or Table at the end of this Book for you must always count your usances from the very date of the Bill as I have made evidently appear by what hath been before declared concerning usances And I have seen divers Bill of Exchange which have been sent from beyond the Seas wherein the Drawers have written the old and new stile both together in the date of their Bills one above another thus Amsterdam adj 3 13 February 1654 55 for 200 l. sterl Middleborough adj â— March 1654 55 for 150 l. sterl Adj. 27 March 1655. 6 April 1655. in Genoua Dolâ—… 245 at 57 d. L 58-3-9 d sterl And the like which is very plain and commendable in those that do so write thereby to make things evident to the capacity of the weakest and to avoid any further disputes thereupon although in those Bills of Exchange where the old and new stile are not positively expressed yet the same thing is intended and meant and ought to be understood as if particularly set down for if you have the date in new stile you may soon see what date it is in old stile And I have taken the more pains to make this out to every mans understanding because I do perceive that many men for their own advantage and in their own case are subject to be byassed and judge amiss but I conceive I have herein so clearly evidenced the truth and reason of my opinion that it cannot but convince those that are or have been of a contrary judgment of their error and mistake except they are wilfully blind and then none so blind Or that they can give me any better reason for their contrary opinion and then I will submit unto them for all Bills of Exchange as I have said before and is notoriously known and assented unto by all which are made payable at usances must bereckoned directly from the date of the Bill which if it be new stile and payable in London or any other place where they write old stile the date must first be found out in the old stile and then count forward and you cannot mistake Half Usance HAlf usance is always reckoned fifteen days from the date of the Bill neither more
is with this proviso that protest be made in due time and lawful diligence used for receipt of the mony by the party to whom it is payable according to his duty that so the Drawer may not suffer through his neglect It is good to walk securely there is no danger at all in protesting within the three days after a Bill of Exchange is due but there may be danger in forbearing to protest within that time Wherefore my advice is let the party up on whom the Bill is drawn be never so good and able a man if he do not pay within the time accustomed cause the Bill presently to be protested for non-payment Bill payable at a prefixt day A Bill of Exchange made at any part beyond the seas where they dousually write new stile which is ten days before our English stile being old stile and such a bill being made payable on such or such a day of such or such a month you must know in this case that you have nothing to do with the date of the Bill but you are only to look to the day of the month positively expressed in the Bill and that very day of the month according to our stile here in England must be expired before the bill will be due and a bill so made payable is not to be understood on such or such a day new stile except the same be so particularly expressed but on such or such a day old stile according to the stile and usual computation observed at the place where it is made payable As for instance suppose a Bill of Exchange were made payable in this manner following Laus Deo in Amsterdam the 7th of February 1655. for 200 l. sterling ON the ninth day of March next pay this my first Bill of Exchange to Mr. Robert W. or his assigns the sum of two hundred pounds sterling for the value received of Mr. Charles D. and put it to account as per advice Francis P. To Mr. George H. Merchant in London P â— This Bill of Exchange will not be due until the ninth day of March English stile and it cannot be accounted due as some would have it on the twenty seventh of February old stile which is the ninth of March new stile for it relates to the stile of the place where the bill is made payable and not to the computation of the place or country where the Bill is dated For suppose now Mr. Robert W. in the Bill mentioned should demand payment of this Bill on the last of February and first of March old stile and Mr. George H. should tell him that he would pay it the ninth of March our stile when due according to the tenor of the Bill and not before I would fain know how any Notary if he understand himself can protest upon such an answer or can draw out any legal protest for non payment before the ninth of March old stile be expired For pray observe if the Notary dateth his protest for non-payment on any day before the ninth of March old stile according to the computation of the place where the bill is payable he will make his protest bear date before the bill is due and so will be illegally made and even the protest it self will carry that along with it which will certainly cut its own throat for the bill is made payable the ninth and the protest will bear date before the day of payment be come as may evidently appear And yet this very case to my knowledge hath stumbled a Merchant of no small rank and commerce in Bills of Exchange who having such a Bill of Exchange payable to him would fam have persuaded himself for the acceptor nor me he could not that the bill would be due the 27 old stile and if the party on whom the bill was drawn would not so accept it my Merchant was very earnest to have a protest made whereupon to make things plain and thereby convince him of his errour I directed the acceptor to underwrite the Bill thus Accepted to pay the ninth of March according to the tenor of the Bill which when my Merchant beheld and well considered he perceived his error and well approved of the acceptance for it was good and so tarryed till the ninth of March for his mony as he ought to do Acceptance by Wife or Servant A Mans Wife or Friend or Servant cannot accept a Bill of Exchange for him in his absence without sufficient authority from him by a Letter of Attorny under his hand and seal delivered in the presence of sufficient witness for the doing thereof a mans word as if he should say to his Wife Friend or Servant If any Bills of Exchange shall come drawn on me in my absence accept them for me is not sufficient neither will a bare Letter serve written to his Wife Friend or Servant but there must be hand and seal and witnesses which if occasion be may prove his legal consent to such acceptance For indeed it is against reason that any man should be bound to the payment of any sum of mony without valuable consideration or without his own free consent It is true if the Wife or Servant have formerly accepted several Bills of Exchange in the like kind and when the party on whom they were drawn hath come to town he hath approved thereof and paid the bills at the time and so the Wife or Servant are wont to do from time to time and that this can be proved I conceive it will come very close to him but we hold a legal order for acceptance ought to be granted by Letter of Attorny under hand and seal as I have already shewed A Bill drawn at one place and payable at another IF a Bill of Exchange be drawn upon a man living at one place or City and pay able to a man living at another place and that the mony is not to be paid in the City or Town where the party on whom the bill is drawn doth dwell but in some other City or Town where the party to whom the Bill is payable doth live or at a place for and at which there is a usual course of Exchange and that the party on whom the Bill is drawn doth dwell some score of miles off from thence Such a Bill as this so soon as it comes to your hands you may send it down to some friend in the same Town where he on whom it is drawn doth live to get acceptance thereof and then to be returned to you but when the Bill falls due you need not seek farther for payment than at the house or in the place where the Bill is made payable and in default thereof you must there cause protest to be made in due form As for instance suppose a Bill of Exchange be drawn from Rouen and directed thus To Mr. William P. Merchant at Southampton but made payable thus Pay this my first of Exchange to Mr. Samuel B.
made thereupon as I have shew'd before my Advice is That the Receipt which he shall take for the Mony by him paid be made and written under the Protest and Act but not upon the original accepted Bill of Exchange for divers Reasons which I could give but especially I approve of a Receipt upon the Protest and not on the Bill that so thereby he may still keep the Bill free as not being satisfi'd by those whom it particularly did concern only if he will let the Party to whom the Bill is payable and to whom the Mony is paid subscribe his Name on the backside of the Bill to a blank and let the Protest and Act be sent and returned to the Party for whose account he doth honour the Bill but let him keep the accepted Bill by him to be ready upon all occasions against the Acceptor Bill must not be paid before due IF a Bill of Exchange be made payable at usance double usance thirty days sight or at any longer or shorter time and when the Bill shall be presented to the Party on whom it is drawn to be accepted or at any time before the Bill is due he to whom it is payable shall desire to have the Mony presently paid him by way of anticipation before it be due by the tenour of the Bill and thereupon shall offer to rebate for the time Or if the Party to whom the said Bill is directed having some Monies by him and willing to make some Profit thereof shall of his own accord offer him to whom it is made payable to pay him the Mony presently before the time limited in the Bill of Exchange be expir'd in case he will discount for it or allow him some consideration for the time the Party who shall so pay Mony upon any Bill of Exchange before it be due runs in some danger in not observing Order Indeed he to whom it is payable and who does receive the same is in no danger at all by receiving the Mony before it be due but let him beware that so pays it for if the Mony or Parcel which is remitted be really and properly belonging to the Party which deliver'd the same by Exchange to the subscribed of the Bill and if the Bill be made payable to a Factor Servant Agent or Friend of the Deliverer's only to and for the Deliverer's use and if before the Bill is due the Deliverer do send his Countermand as he may do not to pay the Mony to such his Factor Servant Agent or Friend to whom it was payable by the tenour of the Bill but to some other whom he shall appoint In this case he on whom the Bill is drawn ought to be liable to the Payment thereof according to that Countermand to the Party who shall be thereupon so appointed for as it is not properly in his power I mean in the power of the Party on whom the Bill is drawn to prolong the time of Payment so as that he may chuse if he will pay the Mony at the time limited in the Bill or make the Party to whom it was payable to carry any longer for it neither can that Party to whom the Bill is payable in the case before mention'd warrantably shorten the time limited and appointed in the Bill or agree with the Party on whom it is drawn to pay him the Mony before it be due for the bargain is made between the Deliverer and the Taker and respect ought to be had thereunto and altho this case of countermand doth not ordinarily and commonly happen yet it may happen and I have known it come to pass and who can certainly assure himself that the same will not befal him in his Payment of Monies on any Bill of Exchange before it be due For my part the Advice which I desire to give herein is such as may be for the Security of him that parts with his Mony that he may do it upon good grounds and so may be warrantably discharged but that he cannot well be in breaking Order wherefore I shall never advise any to pay Mony on Bills of Exchange before they be due Second Bill with an Assignment IF a second unaccepted Bill of Exchange be sent to you from the Party to whom it is payable with an Assignment on the backside thereof ordering the Payment to made to your self for the Value received of your Friend or Factor presently upon receipt thereof you must present or cause the same to be presented to the Party on whom it is drawn to be by him accepted unless you have the first Bill already accepted If the Party on whom it is drawn do refuse to accept the second Bill pretending that he hath already accepted the first Bill to another Man unknown or that he cannot name unto you or if you cannot be actually possess'd of that first accepted Bill you ought upon refusal of Acceptance to cause Protest to be made for Non-acceptance of that second Bill that so upon sending away the Protest security may be given to your Friend or Factor that the Mony shall be paid to you at the time or at leastwise Protest to be entred for the Party to whom the Bill is directed is not bound by your second Bill to the Payment of the Mony to you till he accept the Bills of Exchange according to Custom of Merchants unless he have already accepted the first Bill and the same be in your custody for tho as well the Subscribed or Drawer of the Bill of Exchange as the Party who underwrites the Assignment confessing the Value receiv'd and likewise the Acceptor of the Bill are all of them liable and bound in the Bill of Exchange yet they are not all immediately bound either to the Deliverer or the Party to whom the Bill is payable but each Party is bound to him with whom he doth more immediately correspond as I have more particularly before declar'd Party dead which accepted IF the Party to whom your Bill of Exchange is directed to accept the Bill and then if he shall afterwards happen to die before your Bill is due you must at the appointed time for payment demand the Mony of his Executors or Administrators at his mortuary House or last Dwelling-house or Place of abode and upon their Refusal or Delay of payment you must protest for Non payment in the same manner as you would have done if the Party on whom the Bill was drawn had been living and had not paid it at the time Party dead to whom payable IF the Party to whom a Bill of Exchange is made payable be dead at the time when it falls due and his Executor or Administrator have not yet prov'd the Will nor taken out Letters of Administration nevertheless you must not omit to make Demand of the Mony at the just time limited in the Bill and if you offer Security to save harmless against the Executors and Administrators of the deceas'd Party and it be refus'd
Parcel will amount to with the Exchange from one sort of Mony or Species to another in regard the same hath been already published by Mr. Lewis Roberts in his Map of Commerce but I have given my Advice in the Practical part of Exchanges according to the Custom of Merchants used in England And I have generally back'd my Advice with some Reasons which amongst Wise Men is esteemed more prevalent than Law it self I dare warrant the proceedings of any that shall walk after this my Advice to be good and justifiable by the Law of Merchants but I think I need not hang out a Bush if the Palat be right I know the Wine cannot be disrelished It is the Crop of four and twenty Years Experience in my Employment in the Art of a Notary Publick Reader let not one Perusal suffice thee this Labour is mine the Gain will be thine I am but the Adviser be thou Advised by J. MARIUS Exchange Excellent and Necessary EXCHANGE is by some held to be the most mysterious part of the Art of Merchandizing and Traffick being grounded upon Custom and Experience and the Necessity and Commodiousness of Exchanges is seen in that it hath found a general Allowance in all Countries time out of mind and yet is maintained with the general Consent of all for it prevents the Danger and Adventure of Carriage of Moneys from one City or Country to another And this is done only by two or three Lines written on a small piece of Paper termed A Bill of Exchange which is so noble and excellent that tho it cannot properly as I conceive be called a Specialty because it wanteth those Formalities which by the Common-Law of England are thereunto required as Seal Delivery and Witnesses yet it is equivalent thereunto if not beyond or exceeding any Specialty or Bond in its punctuality and precise Payment carrying with it a commanding Power tho directed from the Servant to the Master for if by him accepted it concerneth him every whit as much to see it be paid with Honour at the time as the Servant can desire or the Party to whom it is payable can expect in regard the Acceptor's Credit lieth at stake And if he fail of Payment at the precise day presently there will issue forth a Protest which may tell tales and soon make a Dilemma in his Commerce for he must not expect to continue his Credit long that doth not pay his accepted Bills at the time appointed and besides his own his Servant or Friend the Drawer's Credit will also be wounded besides the Charges which are incident thereunto and unavoidable Payment of Principal and Charges at the end if the Party or Parties are able for both Acceptor and Drawer are bound till Payment as shall be more particularly shew'd in this ensuing Treatise Thus much in general for I love not to spend more words than need or tell a large Story to little or no purpose Exchange what it is REal Exchange is nothing else but to give or take up Mony in one City or Town to the End to have it again or to restore the just Value thereof in Mony in another Town according to the Price which shall be agreed upon between the Taker and the Deliverer to allow or pay for the Exchange of the Mony and the Loss of Time which will be from the time that the Mony is taken up or delivered till it be restored or received again Inland and Outland Bills all alike AND by this it appeareth That a Bill of Exchange which shall be made for Monies taken up at Edenborough York Bristol Exon Plimouth Dover or any other part of England or Scotland and payable at London is in all things as effectual as any Bill of Exchange made beyond the Seas and payable here in England which we use to call an Outland Bill and the other an Inland Bill both the Inland and Outland being made for Monies taken up by Exchange and Exchange of Monies being a thing which may be done as well from one Town to another as from one Country Kingdom or Nation to another it must needs be that the Bills of Exchange which shall be made as well at one part as at another I mean Inland and Outland ought to be esteemed of equal Worth and the Custom of Merchants on both equally observed howbeit Mr. John Trenchant in his Book of Arithmetick printed at Lions Anno 1608. saith that an Exchange made in the same Realm as from Lions to Paris is not real for that the real Exchange is appointed only for Exchange between Towns in subjection to divers Lords who do not allow Monies to be transported out of their own Territories or because the Monies are not conveyed from one place to another without great Loss Four Persons to make an Exchange and how called ORdinarily there are four Persons requisite to be imployed in taking up or remitting any Parcel of Money by Exchange besides the Broker who doth procure the Parcel as namely two at the Place where the Mony is taken up and two at the Place where the Mony is payable 1. The Party who delivers the Mony by Exchange whom we use to call the Deliverer or the Giver and the French le Banquier because there are who keep a Stock of Mony only to negotiate by Exchange as our Usurers do Mony to deliver at Interest altho these Bankers will as well take up as deliver Monies by Exchange according as they see it most advantagious to them by the Rise or Fall of the Price of Monies by Exchange 2. The Taker or Party who receives or takes up Mony by Exchange and this Party we usually call the Drawer because he may be said to be the chief occasion of the Draught of those Monies from one place to another by virtue of his Bill of Exchange 3. The Party who is to pay the Mony or he upon whom the Bill is drawn or to whom the Bill of Exchange is directed And 4. The Party to whom the Mony is made payable or he to whom the Bill is sent to get accepted and to receive the Mony when due according to the Bill So that by setting down these four Parties and what use there is of them in Exchange of Monies it is apparent that there must be a Correspondency and familiar Acquaintance between the Party who delivers Monies by Exchange and he to whom the same is made payable and the Party who takes up Monies by Exchange and he on whom the Bill is drawn Three Persons to make an Exchange BUT sometimes there are but three Persons needful in the doing a parcel of Mony by Exchange as First the Taker Secondly the Deliverer and Thirdly the Party upon whom the Bill is drawn 1. The Taker he makes and subscribes a Bill of Exchange for so much Mony by him received of the Deliverer 2. The Deliverer he orders the Bill to be made payable to himself or Assigns for the value of himself And
presently the same day and in convenient time of the day to carry bank the Bill to the Party of whom I received it that so he may cause the same to be protested for Non-payment if he please and may not be any ways prejudiced through my Detention of his Bill beyond the due time And usually the Party of whom I do receive such a Bill to go for my Mony doth give me order in case I have not my Mony paid me either to bring him back the Bill again or else to carry it to a Notary to be protested and come to him and he will pay me which if he do not and that it be the third day of my Bill I must likewise protest it against him for want of present Payment Several Forms of BILLS OF EXCHANGE in several Languages Laus Deo in London this 16 of Novemb. 1654. for 100 l. sterling AT six days sight pay this my first Bill of Exchange to Mr. Abraham P. or Assigns one hundred pounds sterling for the value here received of Mr. John D. make good payment and put it to Account as per Advice Your loving Friend William M. To Mr. Francis W. Merchant dd in Exon. P ◠Laus Deo in London the 16 of November 1654. for 100 l. sterling AT six days sight pay this my second Bill of Exchange my first not paid to Mr. Abraham P. or Assigns one hundred pounds sterling for the value here received of Mr. John D. make good payment and put it to Account as per Advice Your loving Friend William M. To Mr. Francis W. Merchant dd in Exon. S d◠If he who under-writes the Bill is to make himself Debitor then he writes in the Bill And put it to my Account but if he who ought to pay it and to whom it is directed is Debitor to the Drawer then he writes And put it to your Account Also sometimes it is expressed in the Bill thus And put it to the Account of such an one Laus Deo in London this 17 of Novemb. 1654. for 100 l. at 36 s. 8 d. Flemish per pound AT Usance pay this my first Bill of Exchange to Mr. Cornelius Vande B. or Order one hundred pounds sterling at 36 s. 8 d. Flemish per pound sterling for the value here received of Mr. John C. make good payment and put it to Account as per Advice Your loving Friend Thomas D. To Mr. Peter E. Merchant dd in Amsterdam P ◠The second Bill is the same with the first only with this Alteration and Addition At Usance not having my first pay this my second Bill of Exchange to Mr. Cornelius Vande B. or Order c. Laus Deo in London adj 17 Novemb. 1654. for 333¼ ▿ at 52 d. sterling per ▿ AT double Usance pay this my first Bill of Exchange to Mr. Robert A. or Assigns the Sum of three hundred and thirty three Crowns and 〈◊〉 third for the value here received of Mr. Henry B. and put it to Account as per Advice Your loving Friend Richard C. To Mr. Charles D. Merchant dd in Rouen P ◠Laus Deo in London adj 17 Novemb. 1654. for D t s 564¼ at 51 d. ½ sterling per Dt. THree months after date pay this my first Bill of Exchange to Mr. Daniel A. or Order Ducats five hundred threescore and four and one quarter in banco for the value here received of Mr. John B. and put it to Account as per Advice William C. To Mr. Thomas D. Merchant in Venice P ◠Ihus Malaga 13 Noviembre 1654. A. Son 132 l. 7 s. 6 d. A Quarenta dias Vista pagara V. M. por esta mi teroera no aviendo pagado por la pri mera y segunda ala Voluntad de Diego P. Ciento treynta y dos libras siete sueldoi y seis peniques esterlinus Valor aqui recevida de Henrique G. y◠sutiempo ara V. M. buen pago a sentandolas come a viso Xpto con todos Antonio de S. A Juan D. g de Dios Londres Adj. 18 Augusti 1654. in Venetia Dt. 1000. a d. 54 per D to AUso pagate per qa. pma. di Cambio alli SS ri f. de V. figli d'Ham ◠o chi ordinerann◠D ti Mille a d Cinquanta quatre per D to valuta Contmi. e ponete Come vi s'avisa a dio Tomaso D. Al Mag co S ◠Ricardo W. in pma Londra The Assignment on the backside is thus ET per noi pagate il contenuto diquesta senza aitra procura al Sr. Gio. W. Cambiati con Sr. Francisco R. Hamburgo 28 Augusti 1654. per F. de V. figli Livorno the 21 Novemb. 1654. per L. 239 13 9 sterl at 59 d. Dollars 975. THree months after date of this my first Bill of Exchange my second or third not being paid pay unto Mr. William G. or Assigns the Sum of two hundred thirty and nine pounds thirteen shillings and nine pence sterling for the value received here of Mr. Thomas W. placing it to Account as per Advice Thomas S. To Mr. Robert B. Merchant in London P ◠Amsterdam adj 27 Octob. 1654. Voor 100 l. sterl OP uso betaelt desen myne eersten wisselbrief ten Sr. Jan E. ost ordre Hondert ponden sterlinex Valuta Van Sr. Robert G. stelt op myn rekeninge al 's per advys Martin P. Ersamen Sr. Willem S. Coopman tot London P ◠A Paris Ce 10 Juillet 1654. pour 450 ▿ a 52 d. sterl per ▿ A Double usance payez per ceste premiere de change a Monsr Paul M. ou a son ordre quatre Centz Escus a Cinquante deux deniers sterlins pour Escu valleur receu de Monsieur Franceis L. passez a compte suivant l'advys de Ure treshumble serviteur Daniel F. Monsieur Monsieur Guillaume G. Merchant a Londres P ◠If there be an Assignment on the backside thereof it runs thus Le Contenu de ceste payez au Sr. Pierre H. ou ordre valleur du Sr. Jean C. Paris 26 me Novembre 1654. Paul M. Rotterdam 2 Oct. 1654. for 200 l. sterl AT double usance pay this my first of Exchange to Mr. Roger C. or Assigns Two hundred pounds sterling for the value received of himself and put it to Account of G. P. as per advice Your loving Friend John M. To Mr. Peter H. Merchant in London P ◠If this Bill be negotiated by Exchange or the Mony taken in and so to be Assigned over to another man the Assignment must be written on the backside of the Bill thus Pay the Contents on the other side hereof to Mr. Humphery N. or Assigns value of Mr. Joseph B. Rotterdam 4 Oct. 1654. Roger C. But if Humphry N. do likewise assign the same Bill for his Account then he writes only thus Pay the Contents hereof to Mr. John D. Humphery N. Take up Mony for another Man how performed IF a man would take up mony by Exchange and he be
not well known to the Party that is to deliver the Mony or if the man that world take up the Mony by Exchange be not esteemed of sufficient Credit for the same with the Deliverer and thereupon if the Deliverer of the Mony shall desire another man to be bound with the Taker for the Mony that is to be delivered by Exchange and to be his Surety and engage himself for the Mony delivered this may be done two manner of ways For first either the Party who is the principal Taker may make three Bills of Exchange first second and third all of one tenor and date for the Mony he is to take up in the usual manner payable to the Party who is the Deliverer of the Mony or to his order for the value received of himself and the Party who is to be bound as Surety may only subscribe the third Bill of Exchange with the principal Taker or Drawer which third Bill the Deliverer may keep by him for his security Or else secondly only two Bills of Exchange first and second may be made and subscribed by the principal who takes up the Mony payable to him who is to be the Surety or his order for the value of himself and then the Surety must make an Assignment upon both Bills of Exchange and make them payable to the party who really and indeed doth deliver the value to the principal Taker or to whom the same Deliverer of the Mony shall appoint the Surety in the Assignment confessing the value received of the true and real Deliverer of the Mony and in either of these ways especially in the former of them the principal is wont to give Bond to the Surety if he desire it to save him harmless according to reason And both of these ways are good and Merchant-like though acted variously for by the former way the Deliverer of the Mony hath two Men equally bound unto him by the third Bill of whom they do confess to have received the value and he that is properly but the Surety hath not the principal taker or Drawer of the Mony bound unto him in or by those Bills of Exchange but only by his Bond which he doth make thereupon but by the latter way only the Surety is bound to the Deliverer of the Mony by the Assignments which are to be made upon the Bills of Exchange and the principal Drawer is bound to the Surety by the Bills of Exchange which only the principal doth subscribe and wherein he doth acknowledge the value received of the Surety as is before expressed and in this latter way if in case the Bill be not accepted and paid according to the tenor thereof then the true Deliverer of the Monies comes upon the Surety by virtue of his Assignment for repayment and the Surety comes upon the Principal by virtue of the Bill of Exchange by him subscribed as above I shall not prescribe either of these ways unto any but shall leave it in the choise of every Merchant to follow which of these two ways he liketh best and may sute most to his occasions Note in your Book the name and place of abode of him who presents a Bill to be Accepted IT happeneth often in Foreign Bills of Exchange that they come payable either to the same Party that did deliver the value or to his order or else to some other body living beyond the Seas who usually doth send the first Bill of Exchange to some Friend of his here in London only to get accepted and then to return it him again that so being accepted he may the better negotiate the same Bill of Exchange again and take in the value thereof and make an Assignment for the same either on the accepted Bill or on the other Bill of the same tenor not accepted according as occasion shall be Now if an Assignment do come on the second Bill payable to another person without order where to take up the first accepted Bill this second Bill being presented to the Party on whom it is drawn to be accepted he doth deny acceptance thereof alledging that he hath already accepted the first Bill but he doth not know to whom or in whose hands the same first accepted Bill doth remain and thereupon the Party which hath the second Bill wanting acceptance thereof doth cause Protest to be made for non-acceptance for prevention whereof and that each party may receive all due content as is fitting I would advise all Merchants that have such Bills of Exchange presented unto them to be accepted to note down in their Books the name of the party by whom the said Bill is presented unto them to be accepted and his place of abode that so if in case the second Bill be also presented unto them by another party to be accepted the party on whom it is drawn and who hath already accepted the first Bill may give answer to him who shall present the second Bill to be accepted and acquaint him to whom he hath already accepted and acquaint him to whom he hath already accepted the first Bill and where he liveth that so the same may appear to be real and remove scruples or doubts which otherwise may arise therein this I conceive is not yet generally practised and observed by all Merchants trading in Exchange because not commonly known but it is Merchant-like and I have seen it practised by some Merchants here in London and I perswade my self it will be willingly embraced by all those that mean honestly and endeavour after plain dealing which cannot but redound to their credit Keep Copies of Bills sent to get accepted AS it is commendable and for the avoiding of doubts which otherwise may be occasioned for the party on whom any Bill is drawn to take notice where the party liveth that presents him the Bill to be accepted which may be easily done as I have heretofore shewed so on the other side when such Bills of Exchange are sent unto any one to get accepted I advise the party to whom they are sent upon receipt of his Letter with the Bills of Exchange presently to take a Copy of the Bills verbatim in a Book which he may keep purposely for such occasions especially to write down the Names of the several Parties on whom they are drawn or to whom they are directed before ever he go about to get them accepted I confess it is a little pains and may seem at first hearing useless but if maturely considered the benefit will countervail the labour for by keeping Copies of all Bills of Exchange that do come to my hands I can always see who are usual Drawers and Deliverers of Mony by Exchange in those places from whence the Bills do come and if the Bills come from France or Italy I can know how the Exchange went then at those places but especially if the Bills are sent me only to get accepted and then to return them this Copying of the Bills of Exchange
verbatim in a Book before you send or deliver them out to the several Parties to whom they are directed to be accepted is very useful thereby to remember where and to whom you are to call for your Bills again and to see what Bills you want which you have delivered out to be accepted for otherwise you may chance to forget when the Bills are out of your hands to whom they were delivered to be accepted and so be put to a non-plus when you are to return your Friend an answer and to give him an account of all those Bills which he sent you to get accepted especially if you have many Bills sent you at one time It happened once as I have heard that a Merchant had 7 or 8 Bills of Exchange at one time sent him to get accepted and he accordingly did deliver them out to the several parties on whom they were drawn to be accepted but when he was to write his Friend an answer and return the Bills which were sent unto him he did miss one of them and could not in a good while remember with whom he left it or to whom it was sent to be accepted because he had not kept any particular notice thereof which put him to some trouble to recollect himself and to study where he had been and with whom he had spoken and what he had done from time to time from the time he received the Letter with the Bills of Exchange until that instant and at length he did call to mind the name of the Party on whom the missing Bill was drawn and so sent to him and had the Bill of Exchange accepted but before he could remember the party he was in much perplexity whereas if he had kept Copies of the Bills or a breviate or Note of the places dates sums times of payment drawer and party to whom directed such perplexity of mind might have been prevented Make the Directions of Bills on the inside THE Directions of Bills of Exchange is made by the Italians and Dutch usually on the backside of the Bill and the English in their Outland Bills do for the most part writâ— after their Copy but the French do ordinarily write the Direction of their Bill of Exchange in the inside of the Bill beneath on the left hand thereof and for my part I conceive it more convenient to write the Direction of Bills of Exchange under the Bills on the left hand according to the custom of the French and of our English Inland Bills than on the middle on the backside as Italians and Dutch do use to do for the paper being but little on which a Bill of Exchange is usually made if the Direction be on the backside there remaineth small place to write Assignments upon and a Receipt for the Mony when paid whereas if the Direction be written on the inside of the Bill all the outside of the Bill may serve to write the Assignments which many times especially in Outland Bills are three or four upon a Bill and the Receipt for the Mony when it shall be paid the spare place on the inside of the Bill serving only to write the Acceptance Whether a man is bound to present his Bill to be Accepted THere are some which hold an Opinion that a man having a Bill made payable unto him is not bound to get it accepted or to Protest for non-acceptance but that he may keep the Bill by him and never present it to the Party on whom it is drawn until the Bill be due and that it rests at his pleasure as arbitrator whether he please to endeavour to get acceptance of the Bill so soon as it comes to his hands or not To this I say That according to the custom of Merchants here in England if I have a Bill of Exchange sent unto me I ought forthwith upon receipt thereof or so soon as convemently I can to present the same to the Party on whom it is drawn or leave notice thereof at his dwelling-house or place of abode and demand acceptance of the Bill to pay at the time therein limited that so the Party on whom it is drawn may take notice thereof and order his business accordingly True will they say if a Bill be sent to me to receive the Mony for another mans Account and I to whom the Bill is sent am but as a Factor or Agent for the Party who delivered the value then indeed I am to use my diligence to get the Bill accepted and to give him advice thereof with the first because I am but as a Servant for another man and reason teacheth that I must follow his order and use all lawful endeavours for his security but what if the Monies which are delivered by Exchange are my own Monies and the Deliverer be my Factor or Servant and the Bill be payable to me In this case may not I chuse whether I will demand acceptance of the Bill and upon refusal Protest for non-acceptance or keep the Bill by me and never present it to the Party on whom it is drawn until the Bill fall due and then go and demand the Mony and if the Mony be not paid Protest only for non-payment and upon that Protest recover upon the Drawer as well as if I had protested for non-acceptance and sent it back to my Factor or Servant Truly in this case there seemeth to be more reason why it should be arbitrary in me to get acceptance of the Bill of Exchange because the Monies which were delivered are my own Monies and the accepting of the Bill is but as another string to the Bow but if we examin the business a little further neither in this case will it be found arbitrary in me to endeavour acceptance or not for admit the Monies remitted are mine own yet must I receive it in a legal way I cannot receive my Mony of the Party on whom the Bill is drawn before it be due neither can I without discharging the Drawer contract with the Party on whom it is drawn for a longer time than is mentioned in the Bill so that although it be mine own Monies which are remitted yet I am tyed to follow the custom of Merchants and I must not prejudice neither the Drawer nor the Party on whom it is drawn nor mine own Servant or Factor the deliverer Now if the Bill is drawn at double usance and I keep it by me without presenting it until it fall due the Drawer in all that while not having any advice whether it be accepted or not may suffer much damage in reference to the Party on whom it was drawn supposing him to have accepted the Bill Or on the other side the Party on whom the Bill is drawn may suffer in his credit or esteem with the Drawer who is held in doubt whether the Bill be accepted or not and so whether probably it will be paid or not at the time and the Deliverer though only a Factor or
Servant must have advice whether the parcel be accepted or not to govern himself accordingly and doubtless will be glad to hear the parcels he remitteth are accepted and be troubled at the contrary wherefore although the Monies are remitted me for mine own Account yet because the Bill of Exchange doth concern other men as well as my self therefore I ought to have respect unto them also and to follow the usual course of Exchange which is to endeavour to procure acceptation of Bills of Exchange as well as payment and indeed in the very Letter of Advice which is sent by the Deliverer of the Mony be he Servant Factor or Principal to the party to whom the Bills are made payable it is usually expressed in these or the like words Sir here inclosed I do send you four Bills of Exchange for 500 l. viz. 20 Nov. 100 l. per Arthur A. at do uso on Roger G. Ditto 100 l. per Joos D. at do uso 10 days on Gregory N. Ditto 150 l. per Arent B. at 1½ uso on William M. 22 Do 150 l. per Jac. C. at do uso on Frederick V. whereof please to get acceptance and payment at the times when fall due giving advice Now certainly all Merchants are bound to follow Order and consequently to endeavour the acceptance of all Bills of Exchange in the like kind sent unto them or else they break the order of the party which sends the Bills Whether the Accepter is freed by protesting A Bill of Exchange which is accepted and at the time not punctually paid there are other some that think if they should cause a Protest to be made on such a Bill for non-payment that they by protesting should free the party who hath accepted the Bill of Exchange and that they do reserve their right only against the Drawer of the Bill to recover upon him by virtue of the Protest To this I say It is true by protesting the Drawer is liable to make satisfaction but the party which accepted the Bill is so far thereby I mean by protesting for want of present payment from being freed as that he is thereby made more liable or at least liable to pay more than he was before the Protest was made for then he was only liable for the just sum mentioned in the Bill but now after Protest is made for non payment he is liable also to pay all costs dammages and interests c. which the party protesting doth by his Protest expresly declare he doth intend to recover of the Acceptor in usual manner and indeed a Protest for non-payment ought usually to precede an action at Law For by the Protest is proved default of payment of the Mony at the time limited in the Bill and so the Acceptor becomes liable to an Action of the Case and so soon as ever Protest hath been made for non-payment the party accepting may be arrested thereupon which before he could not so legally have been Times of Payment and in what Species EVery Country hath its usance or accustomed time for payment of Monies by Bill of Exchange from one place to another As for instance from London to Antwerp Amsterdam Middleborough Rotterdam Lisle Rouen and Paris usance is one month after the date of the Bill and so likewise from those parts to London usance is one month after date double usance is two months c. and between Hamborough and London Monies are usually delivered at two months and in the Bills of Exchange for Hamborough they do usually express double usance when they intend only two months From Venice and other parts of Italy to Amsterdam c. and from thence to Italy usance is two months from Venice c. to London usance is three months and at Lions and some other places they do usually make their Monies pavable at certain Marts or Fairs and here in England at so many days sight each place observing its accustomed manner and in some places likewise they contract for what sort of Mony to pay either currant Mony in bank or out of bank which is sometime 1 1½ or 2 or more per Cent. difference This is very expedient to be known to the end that he which doth deliver his Mony by Exchange for any place may not be deceived in his expectation as well concerning the time as for the quality of the Mony which is to be paid in Exchange for the Mony which he delivereth Danger in making Bills payable to the Bearer NEver make your Bills of Exchange payable to such an one naming his name or to the bearer hereof which is very dangerous but always make your Bills payable to such an one or his order or his Assigns or the like For a Bill which shall be made payable to Robert W. or the bearer hereof may chance to miscarry or come to a wrong mans hands and he may go and receive the Mony upon such a Bill and the party to whom of right it ought to be paid never the wiser I mean not know of it and he that paid it will produce the Bill it self for his warrant to pay it to whomsoever should bring it so you may chance to be defeated of your Monies and it may be your Friend on whom you drew the Bill be suspected by you to have had a hand in the business though it may be he never had any such thought but paid it really to the party that brought the Bill not knowing him nor ever enquiring where he dwelt or what he was and if you will needs have your Friend bear some blame for paying the Monies in that manner you must bear the greater blame and thank your self for giving such an order for he hath performed your order and so you can have nothing against him unless you can prove a fraud in him but to prevent all such suspicion always make your Bills payable to a certain man by name The Names and Times of Old and New Stile though both agreeing yet how distinguished THE computation or stile of the year of our Lord amongst Christians doth differ in several Countries and Nations both in name and time First in name There is the Julian or English Account which amongst Merchants is called stilo veteri or old stile and there is the Gregorian or Roman Account which amongst the Merchants is called stilo novo or new stile The old stile is used with us in England and at Hamburg Strasburg and other parts of Germany the new stile is used in the Netherlands France Spain and most parts of Christendom Then for matter of time We in England begin our year the 25 day of March they in the Netherlands and other places where they write new stile except at Venice and some parts of Italy begin their year the first day of January Or as Dr. Vilvain saith Christians in general do reckon from Christ's Nativity currant January 1. but the Church of England with Pisa and Siena in Italy from his
Conception or Incarnation March 25. we taking it complete or consummate when he had been a whole year in the flesh though but three months old They currant or inchoat from the first day of Conception as Kings reckon from their Initiation so they date nine months before the Vulgar and a whole year before Us which is a difference in the manner but all equally true for the matter and the very stile distinguisheth the form for our term is Anno ab incarnatione implying complete theirs Annus incarnationis implying currant Pisa and Siena stile this year Annus incarnationis 1655. we ab incarnatione 1654. but all else call it Annus nativitatis 1654. commencing at Christ's Circumcision last past So that though in Italy they write new stile which is ten days before Us yet they begin the year the 25 of March as we do No witness to a Bill of Exchange SUch is the excellency of a Bill of Exchange that according to the Law of Merchants there is never any Witnesses required to be present to see the Drawer or Party that doth underwrite the Bill subscribe his name thereunto or to be present when the party on whom it is drawn doth underwrite his acceptance thereof for it is supposed that those which deal by Exchange are men of Credit whom it doth as much concern in reference to their Credit of their own accord to acknowledge their subscriptions and take care the Bills be punctually paid and discharged as it doth the Deliverer and Party to whom it is payable to look after their Mony and demand payment at the time And if it should otherwise happen that the Drawer or Accepter should presume to deny their Subscription it may be easily proved against them by their Letters in comparing the one with the other and by the consequences of the draughts and books of Account and by divers other Circumstances which case doth seldom or never fall out I mean for a man to deny his hand to a Bill of Exchange because it strikes at his Credit and is so poor a shift as that he can hardly find any wool to cover it and if he should be so unadvised as to stand it out and it be prov'd against him besides other damages he will lose his Credit amongst Merchants for ever and then though he may know them yet they will not know him further than they know his Mony Hamborough and Strasburgh stile AT Hamborough and Strasburg in Germany they do write the same stile with us here in England namely old stile but in all other parts beyond the Seas except New England Barbadoes and where our English Plantations are they do generally write new stile which is ten days before us Usance from Venice Hamborough c. NOte also that usance from Venice to London is three months from the date of the Bill of Exchange and from Hamborough to London and so from London to Hamborough Bills of Exchange are usually made payable at two months after the date of the Bills and accordingly the price currant of Exchange from London to Hamborough is valued and set down at two months from the date the price currant from London to Venice and Ligorn at three months and for Antwerp Amsterdam Middleborough Lisle Rotterdam Paris and Rouen at one month or single usance and so we call one month usance two months double usance three months treble usance No three days for acceptance WHen any Bill of Exchange is sent unto you from beyond the Seas or from any Inland Town to cause to be accepted I would advise you presently to present the Bill so soon as possibly you can to the party to whom it is directed and request him to accept the same if he refuse to accept it you may presently cause a Protest to be made for non-acceptance and send it away with the next conveyance for according to the custom of Merchants in London there is not any three days respite to be allowed for acceptance before you can Protest but so soon as the Bill hath been presented and acceptance refused presently you may Protest the very same day Twenty four hours for Acceptance BUt if the party to whom the Bill of Exchange is directed be a Merchant well known unto you and when the Bill is presented him to accept he shall desire time to consider on it and so shall intreat you to leave the Bill of Exchange with him and to come to him the next day provided the Post do not go away in the interim and that then he will give you an answer whether he will accept it or not herein he doth demand nothing of you but what is usually allowed between Merchants known one to another For according to custom of Merchants the party on whom the Bill is drawn may have four and twenty hours time to consider whether he will accept of the Bill or not but that time being expired you may in civility demand of the party on whom your Bill is drawn the Bill of Exchange which you left with him to be accepted if so he pleased If he then say that he hath not as yet accepted it and that he would desire you to call for it some other time or the like the four and twenty hours being expired it is at your choice to stay any longer or not and you may then desire a Notary to go to the dwelling house of the party that hath the Bill and demand the Bill of Exchange of him accepted or not accepted and in default of present delivery thereof you may cause Protest to be made in due form But though this may be lawfully done yet notwithstanding amongst Merchants which do know one another they do not usually proceed so strictly for acceptance but do leave their Bills with the parties to whom they are directed to be accepted sometimes two or three days if it be not their prejudice as namely if the Post do not depart in the interim but if the Post is to depart within the two or three days then it is a very reasonable thing and which men that know the custom of Merchants will not omit to demand their Bill accepted or not accepted that so they may give advice thereof by the first Post after the receipt of their Letters unto their Friend who sent them the Bill or delivered the value thereof For it is to be noted by the way Give advice by the first Post THat advice of the receipt of Bills of Exchange and of the acceptance or not acceptance and payment thereof ought to be given by the first Post after receipt that thereby the Deliverer may know the better how to govern himself and the Taker know what to trust unto A Bill drawn on two Persons IF any Bill of Exchange shall come directed unto two or more persons in these terms To Mr. Robert A. and Mr. John B. Merchants in London In this case both A. and B. ought to accept the same Bill Or else if but
one of them do accept it and the other do refuse to accept that Bill must be protested for want of due acceptance but if the Bill do come directed thus To Robert A. and John B. or to either of them Or thus To Robert A. or in his absence to John B. in this case the Bill being accepted by A. or B. namely by but one of them it is sufficient and the Bill ought not to be protested for want of due acceptance in regard being accepted but by one of them on whom it is drawn it is accepted according to the tenor of the Bill Verbal Acceptance IF a Bill of Exchange be presented to the party to whom it is directed to be accepted and he do answer you thus Leave your Bill with me and I will accept it Or thus Call for it to morrow and you shall have it accepted or such like words promising acceptance such an acceptance is binding and amongst Merchants is taken for an acceptance of the Bill if the same can be proved by witness and if afterwards he to whom the Bill is directed shall refuse to set his name to the Bill and to write under it Accepted by me Richard D. according to the most usual manner here in England In this case the party to whom the Bill is payable may content himself with such an acceptance until the time of payment and then if payment be not made by the party who promised acceptance thereof as is before specified the party to whom it is payable may take his course in Law against the party so accepting and questionless will be compelled to the payment thereof provided the Bill be first protested in due form for non-payment and surely such a verbal acceptance is good and binding and there is a great deal of reason for it for it may so be that that Bill of Exchange was drawn for provision to the party to whom it was payable to the end to pay some other Bill of Exchange charged and drawn on the party to whom the former Bill was payable and he having such a verbal promise of acceptance upon confidence therefore may chance to have accepted the other Bill drawn on him Or it may be the former Bill was sent him to furnish him with Monies to buy some Commodities for the party that remitted the same and upon such a verbal acceptance supposing the Monies will be paid him at the time he may happen to have bought the Commodities for his Friend and may peradventure have written to his Friend that sent him the Bill and having given him advice that he is promised acceptance or that he doubts not of acceptance or the like and upon such advice given his Friend will take notice thereof and make his account accordingly and verily if it were not so namely that such a verbal acceptance were binding there might happen great inconveniences in matter of Trade between Merchant and Merchant amongst whom in their way of Commerce their word is or ought to be as binding as their writing Accept for part IF the party to whom your Bill of Exchange is directed say unto you when you present him the Bill to be accepted That he will accept it for part in regard he hath no more provision in his hands from the party for whose account the Bill of Exchange is drawn or that he oweth him no more upon Account or other the like reasons best known to himself In this case you may take such his acceptance for part but then you presently go to a Notary publick and cause the Bill to be protested for want of acceptance for the whole Sum therein mentioned and you must send away that your Protest to the party which sent you the Bill that he may thereupon have security from the party which took up the Mony for the remaining Sum. And so likewise at the time when the Bill shall fall due you must go and receive the Sum for which it was accepted and you may make a Receipt upon the Bill for the same using these or the like words Received this 22 January 1654. in part of payment of this Bill twenty five pounds six shillings I say Received per me John N. And then you must cause Protest again to be made for non payment of the remaining Sum and send the same back according as you formerly did for non-acceptance Note on your Bills the times when they will fall due AFter you have presented your Bills of Exchange and received them accepted then presently reckon when they will fall due and if you have any Bills drawn from France or Italy or other parts in French Crowns Ducats Dollars or other outlandish Mony look in the Bills at what rate or price they are drawn for Exchange of the Mony here in England and reduce them to our English Mony and then note on the backside of your Bills close to the top at one end thereof in short the time when your Bills will be due with the just sum which you are to receive at the time according to the tenor of your Billâ— before you lay them up in your Counting house to the end that at any time when you would desire to know upon any occasion what Monies you have to receive and when payable you may presently looking over your Bills see and know the same on the backside of the Bills which you will find to be much ease very convenient and indeed Merchanâ— like and I have known it practised by some of the best and most experienced Merchants in London Keep or return Bills accepted YOur Bills thus accepted if payable to your self you may lay up by you in your Counting-house until the time of payment be come or that you have other use thereof but if payable to him that delivered the value or that sent them you to cause to be accepted then you must therewith follow his order either in keeping them by you until further order or in returning them back to be endorsed and it may be to take in the value thereof himself which he may likewise do on the second Bill if he have it by him and so assign it over to another man and send you his order to deliver the accepted Bill to some other person who may have the second Bill endorsed payable unto him The Deliverer is Master FOr you are to take notice That the party which first delivered the Mony on the Bill of Exchange if the Monies he delivered were for his own proper Account is rightly and properly Master thereof until the Bill falls due and he can or may prohibit the party to whom it is directed not to pay the same at the time unto him to whom the Bill is first made payable supposing him to be a Factor for the Deliverer although the party on whom the Bill is drawn have already accepted the Bill which prohibition is called a Countermand and ought to be done in due form and but upon special sure ground
or Assigns in London or thus Pay this my first Bill of Exchange at the house of Mr. Roger C. in London to the order of Mr. Benjamin L. c. this Bill must be sent down to Southampton to some friend there to present to Mr. William P. to get accepted but if he refuse to accept the Bill you may either protest at Southampton for non-acceptance or else the friend there may return the Bill with his answer of refusal by a Letter to London to his friend that sent him the Bill and by the help of such a Letter protest may be made at London for non-acceptance But now when this Bill is due you must then only endeavour to get payment at London according to the express words and tenor of the Bill and if no order be given at the house of Mr. Roger C. in London for payment or if a particular house be not expressed but only the Bill is payable in London if you have not your mony brought you within the three days after the Bill is due you must cause protest for non-payment to be made in London according to the usual manner The Taker bound to the Deliverer and the Acceptor bound to the Party to whom payable YOu may please to take notice That generally in all Bills of Exchange the party that draws or under writes the Bill or the taker which is all one I say he is bound to the deliverer or to the party of whom the value was received and the acceptor or party that doth accept the Bill is bound to the party to whom the Bill is made payable For although as well the Taker or Drawer of the Bill as also the Acceptor are both bound in the Bill and both equally liable for the payment thereof yet they are not generally both bound to one man I say generally for if the Deliverer be servant to the party to whom the Bill is payable then indeed the Drawer may be said to be bound to the party to whom it is payable as well as the Acceptor Or if the Deliverer be the principal and he remits his own monies by exchange payable to his servant in this case likewise both Taker and Acceptor may be said to be bound to the Deliverer But generally in parcels remitted and taken up by exchange between Merchant and Merchant the Taker is properly bound to one and the Acceptor to another though both of them are liable until the Bill be satisfied So that if the accepted Bill be not paid at the time and protest made for non-payment and there be occasion to commence a sute in Law against the Drawer it must be entred in the name of the Deliverer and in like manner if a sute be commenced against the Acceptor it must be made and prosecuted in the name of the party to whom the Bill is made payable for the party happily that draws the Bill takes no great notice to whom it is made payable he being thereunto directed usually by the party that delivers him the value Neither doth the party which accepts the Bill take much cognizance of the party that did deliver the value but only of the party that drew the Bill with whom he corresponds and of the party to whom it is made payable to whom by his acceptance he bindeth himself for the payment And so likewise where there are any Assignments on Bills negotiated always the party that receives the value is directly bound to him of whom he hath received it and the Acceptor to the last assigned Better security IF a Merchant which hath accepted a Bill of Exchange shall happen to be non-solvent or publickly reported to be failed of his Credit and that he doth absent himself from the Exchange in the interim before the Bill of Exchange by him accepted be due You must then presently upon such report cause demand to be made by a Notary for better security and in fault thereof cause protest to be made for want of better security and send away that protest by the very next Post that so upon receipt thereof by your friend which sent you the Bill he may procure security to be given by the party which drew the Bill One string being crackt you must seek to get another new one that so you may still have two strings to your bow And when the Bill is due if not paid you must then protest again for non-payment and send away that protest also Charges and the Drawer or his surety must bear and pay as well principal as charges such as is port of Letters cost of protests and if the mony be taken up per rechange on him the price of rechange and brokerage Protest in the day time IF at any time you have occasion to cause protest to be made on any Bill of Exchange either for non-acceptance better security or for want of payment always be sure to cause protest to be made in the day time that is to say between sun rising and sun setting but tarry not until the last hour if you may do otherwise and when I say between sun and sun my meaning is in the day time or time of commerce and publick trade when and during the time that shops are generally open for one swallow doth not make a summer For it may be in summer time in London some men do open shops by four or five of the clock in the morning but generally not until six or seven and some do not shut up until nine or ten but generally at seven or eight of the clock And again in winter haply some may open about six or seven of the clock in the morning and shut up not until nine or ten whenas generally they open about eight and shut up about four or five of the clock at evening So that as a Bill of Exchange is of great concernment to Merchants in trade and a protest upon any of their Bills may prove to their great discredit A Caveat for Notaries so likewise it is therefore provided by the Law and custom of Merchants that no protest upon any of their Bills of Exchange ought to be made against them out of season or at an unseasonable time when men generally cease to use publick commerce and trade for there is a time of rest as well as a time of labour a time for devotion as well as a time of negotiation a time for private imployment as well as for publick concernment If I should go about ten of the clock at night to a Merchant to buy a parcel of Taffaties would he not be ready to excuse the shewing of them at such an unseasonable hour and desire me rather to come the next morning about nine of the clock and that then I should see them and in so answering me wherein doth he deserve blame may not he for all that continue to be a Merchant of good repute Because he will not shew his goods at such an unseasonable hour can any
therefore conclude that he hath no goods to sell Ought not I rather to be blamed to give disturbance to him at such an hour of the night I could say much in this particular but as I desire not to give advantage to any ill affected to forbear payment of monies due by Bill of Exchange whensoever the same is justly and rightly demanded so I dare not conclude a protest to be legally made at any hour of the night or at an unseasonable time You cannot err in causing protest to be made if occasion be on a working day before noon or after noon in the time that men do generally use and exercise commerce and trade as well in buying and selling of goods as in paying and receiving of monies And therefore to prevent all objections which may be made against the legality of the protest Nota. I would advise every one that hath occasion to cause protest to be made for non-payment to play above board and to let their protest be made at convenient time as is before declared for you are not bound not to protest until the last hour of the third day after the Bill is due but you are bound by the Law of Merchants used in England to protest within the three days and before the last hour be expired which is generally taken at sun setting or thereabouts wherefore you may as well protest in the forenoon as in the afternoon and as well at two of the clock in the afternoon as at four of the clock And therefore be sure you do not prejudice your self in tarrying beyond your time before you cause protest to be made for non-payment of your Bill in case it be not paid before the third day Protest returned for non-acceptance or want of better security WHen any protest is returned unto you for want of acceptance or for want of better security upon receipt thereof you must presently repair with the protest to the party to whom you delivered your mony upon the Bill of Exchange which is either the Drawer or Indorser and upon sight of the protest he must give you good security to your content for the monies so taken up by exchange to be bound to repay the same with rechange and costs in case it be not paid at the time by the party on whom it is drawn and therefore the usual custom is in this case that the drawer or indorser having received the value must procure an able man some friend of his to underwrite the protest which is come for not acceptance or for want of better security using these or the like words I here under-written do bind my self as principal according to the custom of Merchants for the sum of mony mentioned in the Bill of Exchange whereupon this protest is made London this ninth of February 1654. John G. Protest for non-payment returned BUT if a protest be returned for want of payment and if you have had security already given you on the protest for non-acceptance or for want of better security then upon receipt of your protest for non-payment you may only acquaint the drawer or party that took up the mony therewith and tarry out the same proportion of time at which the Bill was made payable to be accounted from the time it fell due before you demand your principal mony with the rechange and charges of the party that drew the Bill or of his surety who according to the Law of Merchants are bound joyntly and severally to repay the same upon the protest for non-payment but if the Bill was accepted and the acceptor not failed so that there was not any protest made till the Bill fell due and then there comes a protest for want of payment In this Case you must take security upon that protest for non-payment as is directed here before upon the protest for non-acceptance except the drawer do presently pay down the money and interest and charge accrewing from the day it fell due until that very day of shewing him the protest for non-payment and that you do consent thereunto for otherwise in case a Bill be protested for non payment and the protest exhibited to the drawer he may giving security as before keep the money until so much time more be elapsed as the Bill was drawn for before he can be compelled to make payment As now for instance if the Bill be dated in Amsterdam the ninth of February and payable at usance in London and protested for non-payment the drawer may claim the like time of usance for repayment thereof as above so that as there was one month for the Exchange of the mony from Amsterdam to London so likewise there must be another month for re-exchange of the mony from London back again to Amsterdam and thus you see it will be the ninth of April before you can have your money with the re-exchange thereof and charges at Amsterdam but if the drawer will keep the mony out the time and yet will not give security upon the protest then the deliverer may presently take a course in Law against him and he will be compelled to repay the same with costs and considerable damage Keep the accepted Bill but return the non-accepted WHen an accepted Bill is protested for Non-payment I would advise to send away the Protest as I have shew'd before but to keep the accepted Bill in your own Custody except you have express order to the contrary for the Protest for Non-payment will be sufficient proof whereby to recover of the Drawer and then withal if the first Bill be accepted the second Bill will serve against the Drawer as well as the accepted Bill but here in England you cannot take course in Law and expect a good Issue in your Suit against the Acceptor without the original accepted Bill be produced in Court so that you keeping the accepted Bill by you and sending your Friend the other Bill if you have it with the Protest he can sufficiently thereby claim his Mony of the Drawer or Party to whom he hath delivered the Value and likewise you at the same time if it be an outland Bill may implead the Acceptor upon the accepted Bill and if the Drawer should desire to have in the accepted Bill as well as the other before he repay the Mony it will be time enough to send the accepted Bill when it is so desir'd but I would not advise to send away the accepted Bill with the Protest for Non-payment for fear it miscarry nor to part with the accepted Bill without special order and upon good grounds But if the Bill was never accepted and not paid at the time then there is no danger to send back the Bill with the Protest for Non-payment both together for you have done your whole Diligence needful concerning that Bill and it will rest wholly upon the Deliverer to seek his Remedy against the Taker up of the Mony and to procure Payment thereof from him as is fitting Bill
of Exchange lost left to be accepted IF a Bill of Exchange be lest with a Man to be accepted and he happen to have lost the Bill or that it be mis-deliver'd that is to say deliver'd by him or any of his Servants or by his means to a wrong Party or if in any case the Party which left the Bill to be accepted cannot have his Bill of Exchange re-deliver'd to him accepted or not accepted according to the Custom of Merchants In this case the Party that lost the Bill namely he on whom it is drawn or through whose means it is mis-deliver'd if he intended to accept the Bill or if he had accepted it must give a Note under his hand and seal for the payment of the Mony mention'd in the Bill to the Party to whom it was made payable or his Assigns at the time limited in the Bill I say to pay the Mony upon the second Bill if it shall come to hand within the time or else in default thereof he must bind himself to pay the Mony upon that Note at the same time for it is but just and reasonable that he who hath lost my Specialty or Bill of Exchange should make it good to me by some other means equivalent thereunto but in case the Party that thus lost the Bill do refuse to give such a Note under his hand and seal then he who presented the Bill to be accepted or that left the Bill with him must presently cause Protest thereupon to be made in due form and must send the Protest away by the first Post and in like manner make Demand of the Mony at the time tho he have neither Note nor Bill of Exchange and in default of Payment he must cause a second Protest to be made and send it away as the former But in case there be such a Note made and at or before the time limited for Payment thereof the second Bill of Exchange shall not come to hand you must go receive the Mony upon that Note according to the Contents thereof and in default of Payment you must cause Protest to be made upon that Note for Non-payment as if you had the accepted Bill or that the second Bill were come to hand but not paid at the time Bill endorsed in Blank IF a Bill of Exchange be made payable to one beyond the Seas or to one within-land in the Country and he subscribe only his Name on the backsidet hereof leaving an empty place above his Name and do so send it to a Merchant or Friend to get it accepted and to receive the Mony at the time therein limited of the Party on whom the Bill is drawn as it is usual to do the same is sufficient warrant for the Party to whom the Bill is sent to get it accepted and and to receive the Mony accordingly And in this case when the Party that hath the Bill shall go for the Mony when the Bill is due he may either receive the Mony himself or send his Man for it if he go himself he may either write an Assignment in the empty place above the Name on the backside of the Bill and so make it payable to himself and then when he shall have received the Mony he must make a Receipt for the same underneath the Assignment in his own Name in ordinary manner for so much Mony received Or else he may forbear making an Assignment in the empty place to himself and instead thereof he may in the same empty place above the Name make a Receipt as if the Mony had been paid to the Party to whom the Bill is payable and that set his Name thereunto in blank and if he send his Man with the Bill to receive the Mony the Man may upon the receipt of the Mony either deliver up the Bill as it is without writing any thing upon it or else he may as before fill up the empty place with an Assignment payable to his Master and then make a Receipt underneath for so much Mony receiv'd in full of that Bill for his Master's use governing himself therein according as the Party that shall pay the Bill of Exchange shall direct for either way is good and warrantable according to the Custom of Merchants used in England Accept for Account of Drawer IF a Bill of Exchange be subscribed or drawn by Abraham F. on Benjamin G. for the Account of Charles H. and it so happen that Benjamin G. to whom the Bill is directed will not accept the Bill for account of Charles H. as it is drawn but would willingly accept it for the account of Abraham F. being a special Friend to Benjamin G. on whom it is drawn and so this Benjamin G. is very unwilling to suffer the Bill to go back by Protest for Non-acceptance and therefore he desires to accept it for Honour of the Drawer and for his Account In this case according to the Law of Merchants Benjamin G. may so accept the same but before he do accept the Bill he must personally appear before a Notary publick and declare before him such his Intent and the Notary must make an Act thereof in due Form to be sent away by Benjamin G. to Abraham F that so he may have speedy Advice thereof and the Act being entred then he may accept the Bill for the Honour of the Drawer and for his account And when the Bill is due he must cause a like Act to be made for Payment before he pay the Bill declaring that he will pay the Bill for the Honour of the Drawer and for his account but not for account of Charles H. for whose account it was drawn and thus Benjamin G. giving Honour to the Bill altho he do it for another account than for which it was drawn according to the Custom and Law of Merchants generally observed Abraham F. is bound to make the same good again unto Benjamin G. with Exchange Re-exchange and Costs but Benjamin G. must be sure to make such his declaration before he do accept the Bill or any ways engage or oblige himself thereunto for otherwise if he should first accept it and that it might be lawful for him at any time afterwards to alter the Property thereof and charge it for account of the Drawer at the Acceptor's Pleasure the Drawer Abraham F. might be much prejudiced as in reference to Charles H. by whose order it may be and for whose account Abraham F. drew the same Bill Bill paid upon Protest IF a Bill of Exchange be drawn upon a Merchant or any other here in London and he refuse to pay it or hath not Mony ready to make present Payment at the day and thereupon Protest is made for Non-payment and another Merchant or Friend to the Drawer having notice thereof doth appear and declare before a Notary publick that he will pay it for honour of the Drawer upon protest and accordingly doth pay the same and cause an Act to be
hand that therefore no Protest can be made for non-payment which is frivoulous and vain and will prove but a sandy foundation for any to build upon Nota. For even by the Notifica-which was made to the party accepting declaring how that the first Bill of Exchange of such a date and sum of Mony from such a party payable to such a one and drawn on him and by him accepted is lost c. the acceptor doth thereby tacitly acknowledge that such a Bill was by him accepted and so makes himself debtor for the parcel and thereupon he may in case of obstinacy be sued at Law for the Mony without the accepted Bill and be forced to the payment thereof with costs and damages and therefore meerly by reason of the loss of the accepted Bill he can have no just cause or plea to detain the Mony beyond the just time from the right party who should receive the same but only thus when such an accepted Bill is lost the party to whom the Bill was payable must give Bond or other reasonable writing to the content and good liking of the party that did accept the Bill and such as in reason he cannot refuse therein and thereby engaging to save the Acceptor harmless from the accepted Bill which is lost and to discharge him from the sum the ein mentioned against the Drawer and all others in due form and thereupon the party which did accept the Bill ought to pay the same although he have not in his accepted Bill for otherwise the party to whom it was made payable must send a Notary to make demand of the said sum upon the same offer of giving Bond to save harmless as above and then if payment be refused the Notary must Protest for want of present payment and the party that accepted the Bill is liable to make good the damages and costs he being the wilful occasion thereof the loss of the accepted Bill being but accidental and indeed such a Bill being really lost to the party to whom it was payable and he himself being a man well known and of good commerce and such notification being made as above Nota. yea I would advise to make the notification though I did not miss the Bill till I went for the Mony and the rather because I cannot tell what may fall out between the cup and the lip I cannot well imagine what loss he on whom it is drawn can be at in paying it at the due time to the right party upon his Bond to save harmless Object Peradventure you will object and say What if the second Bill comes payable to another man am not I bound to pay that Bill I answer That can hardly be I mean that the second Bill should come payable to another man if the first be made payable in the Bill or by orderly assignment to the party to whom you have paid the Mony And yet suppose the first accepted Bill which was lost was payable or assigned to him that lost it and a second Bill should come assigned to another man as I have seen such a thing happen the honesty of him that did it I will not now dispute the Mony being really paid at the time when the same fell due to him that had the accepted Bill and payable to him and not having had notice of the other Bill until after it be due the payment on or according to the first Bill is good and warrantable Ob. But what if the first accepted Bill be afterwards found by any that shall come and demand the Mony in the name of the party to whom it is payable or that he himself shall have assigned it over to another man and have taken up the value of him An. It is all as nothing coming after the time and the Mony having been paid at the time to the party to whom payable though without the accepted Bill it being supposed lost and having good Bond to save harmless It will lie on him which hath committed the fraud and not on the party on whom the Bill was drawn and hath paid it at the time who is free from both first and second Bill and ought to be saved harmless accordingly No revoking Acceptance IT happened one day that a young Merchant though a middle aged man came to me and told me he had few hours ago accepted a Bill of Exchange and delivered it back to the party to whom it was payable but that just now he had received Letters of advice that the party for whose account the Mony was drawn namely the Drawer of the Bill was failed of his Credit and therefore the Acceptor would if he could un-accept the Bill or make void his acceptance thereof and desired me to advise him how he ought to do it To whom I made answer merrily Sir pray go to the party that hath your accepted Bill and tell him as much as you have told me if he know it not already and if he will give you leave to cancel your acceptance of the Bill which he ought not to do then you may be free from your engagement but for my part I know no other way for if you cannot recall your word in such case much less can you make void your deed without mutual consent for the truth is a Bill of Exchange being once accepted that acceptance cannot be recalled but the acceptor stands liable to the payment and must make it good if he be able Accept for longer time IF a Bill of Exchange be made payable at 30 days sight and the party to whom the said Bill is directed will not accept it but at 60 days sight Or if the Bill be drawn at double usance and the party upon whom the same is drawn will not accept it but at treble usance or the like that is to say if the party upon whom the Bill of Exchange is charged will not accept it to pay according to the time therein limited but for a longer time In such case the party to whom the Bill is made payable or his Assigns must cause protest to be made for want of acceptance of the said Bill according to the tenor thereof and then he may take the acceptance offered Or if the Bill of Exchange be left with the party to whom it is directed to be accepted and he do of his own accord without the knowledge of the party to whom it is payable accept the Bill for a longer time or for a less sum than is mentioned in the said Bill in either of these cases the party unto whom the said Bill is made payable or his assigns must go with the said Bill of Exchange to a Notary and cause Protest to be made for want of acceptance of the said Bill for the whole sum therein mentioned or according to the tenor thereof as aforesaid but he may not let the party blot out his acceptance Nota. for by his acceptance he makes himself debtor and owns the