USANCE. 



term ij reckoned from the day on wliitli llic bill was pre- 

 fented. See Rus-sia. 



At St. Gall, ill Switzerland, ufaiice is fifteen days ; dou- 

 ble ufance, tliirty days ; half ufance, eight days ; the day 

 of prefentation being reckoned the lirll. Three days grace 

 are allowed on bills drawn at ufance, but two only on bills 

 payable at a longer or (horter term than ufance. Sundays and 

 holidays are always included. 



The days of grace, and other cuftoms and laws relating to 

 bills of exchange, are the fame in Scotland as in England. 



Bills are drawn in Sicily on Leghorn and Genoa, at ufance 

 of one month after acceptance, or at two months date, or at 

 a few days fight ; on Rome, Venice, and Naples, at eight or 

 fifteen d?.ys fight ; on London, at three mo^iths date. The 

 ufance for foreign bills, drawn on Palermo and MelTina, is 

 twenty-one days figiit, including the day of acceptance ; 

 the ufance for bills between Meffina and Palermo is four ■ 

 days after acceptance. No days of grace are allowed here 

 in any cafe. 



The ufances and days of grace vary in different parts of 

 Spain ; thus, at Madrid and Seville, the ufance for bills 

 drawn from England, France, Genoa, and Leghorn, is 

 fixty days after date ; from Amfterdam, Hamburgh, and 

 otl'.er places in the north of Europe, two calendar months. 



At Cadiz, the ufance from France is one month after date ; 

 and from the other parts of Europe, fixty days. 



At Bilboa, the ufance from France is one month, and 

 from the other parts of Europe, two month: after date. 



At Barcelona, the ufance for all foreign bills is fixty 

 days after date. 



In all parts of Spain, the ufance for bills drawn from 

 Rome is ninety days after date, without any days of 

 grace. 



The days of grace for all other bills drawn on Madrid, 

 Seville, Bilboa, and Barcelona, are fourteen days, provided 

 the bills be accepted before they become due, othcrwife no 

 days of grace are allowed. Such bills mull be protelled 

 immediately. 



At Cadiz, fix days grace are allowed in all cafes. 



In drawing bills of exchange upon Spain, it has become 

 neccflary, of late years, to write " payable in effeftivc, and 

 not in vales reales," othcrwife they may be paid in this pa- 

 per, which is generally at a difcount. 



The ufance at Stettin, in Prufhan Pomerania, for bills 

 drawn from London and France, is one month ; from Am- 

 fterdam, fix weeks ; from Hamburgh, four weeks, after 

 date. Stettin draws generally on Amfterdam, Copenhagen, 

 and Hamburgh, at fix or eight, or fometimcs three or four 

 weeks date ; on England and France, at two months date. 

 The days of grace are three, as in Berlin. 



The ufance at Strafburg, for bills from Germany, is fif- 

 teen days after fight ; and from France thirty days after 

 date. The acceptor of a bill cannot claim any days of 

 grace ; but the holder may allow ten days, after which the 

 bill muft be either paid or protefted. 



The ufance in Sweden is reckoned at one month after 

 fight. Six days of grace are allowed for the payment of 

 bills, Sundays and holidays included ; if the fixth day, how- 

 ever, (hould fall on a Sunday or holiday, the bill muft be 

 paid on the i-i-eceding day ; but thofe fix days arc not un- 

 dcrftood to be granted, except in cafes of neccftity ; and a 

 perfon who willus to pnferve his credit, mull not claim any 

 days of grace, but pay his bills on the day they are made 

 payable. 



Bills payable on demand, or at two or three days fight, are 

 not allowed any days of grace ; bills payable in the middle 

 of a month become due on the fourteenth, whatever may be 



the number of days in that month ; and the fix days of 

 grace are allowed. 



When a bill, payable after date, is uot prefented till two 

 or three days after its written term is expired, no more days 

 of grace are allowed than may remain unelapfed at the time 

 of prefentation. 



The ufance at Turin, for bills drawn from London, is 

 three months after date ; from Holland, two months ; and 

 from France, one month. The period allowed for the pay- 

 ment of bills drawn from any other country befidcs the fore- 

 going, begins on the day they are prefented for acceptance, 

 and ends on the day when an anfwer can be had, by the re- 

 gular poll, from the place where the bill was drawn or nc- 

 gociated. Hence the ufance for bills drawn in Geneva, 

 Genoa, and Milan, is commonly reckoned at eight days 

 after fight ; for thofe drawn in Venice, Florence, Leghorn, 

 Rome, Augft->urg, and Vienna, at fifteen days fight ; and 

 for thofe drawn in Naples and Sicily, at twenty-one days 

 fight. 



The prefentation for acceptance of a bill payable at a de- 

 termined period, cannot be delayed beyond two months 

 after the date of the bill. The fame regulation is obferved 

 with regard to claiming the difcharge of a bill payable at 

 fight ; it it is not claimed within tluat period, it is fuppofed 

 that the neceffary fteps have not been taken to obtain pay- 

 ment. 



The day on which a bill is dated is always reckoned in the 

 term it has to run. 



The holder of a bill, payable after date, is at liberty either 

 to demand payment when it becomes due, or to wait till the 

 fifth day ; and if this (hould fall on a Sunday or holiday, 

 payment is to take place on the next following day of bufi- 

 nels ; but jills at fight muft be paid when prefented. 



The ufance at Venice, for bills drawn from London, is three 

 months after date ; from Amfterdam, Antwerp, and Ham- 

 burgh, two months ; from Bergamo, Milan, Modcna, and 

 Mantua, twenty days after date ; from Augftnirg, Frank- 

 fort, Genoa, Naples, Bari, St. Gall, Nuremberg, Bol- 

 lano, and Vienna, fifteen days after acceptance ; from 

 Rome and Ancona, ten days after acceptance; from Bo- 

 logna, Ferrara, Lucca, Florence, and Leghorn, fwe days 

 alter acceptance. 



Bills are allowed fix days grace, after which they muft be 

 ether paid or protefted ; Sundays or holidays are not in- 

 cluded. Formerly payment could not be claimed, nor a bill 

 protefted, during the time the bank remained (hut, except 

 in cafe of a bnrkruptcy ; and if two or three of the days of 

 grace had elapfed before the bank was ftiut, the remaining 

 days were reckoned after the opening, fo as to make fix 

 days in all. 



Protefts are made by the fanti or clerks of the commer- 

 cial college, who enter all the bills they have protefted in 

 a book, to which evrry merchant has free accefs. Thus 

 many bills, which would othcrwife be returned, are accepted 

 and paid for the honour of the drawer or indorfer. This 

 praclicc islikcwife ufiful in giving early notice of approach- 

 ing infolvcncy. 



At Vienna, the following regulations are cftabliflied for 

 bills of exchange : — 



When the written term of a bill ir. expired, throe days of 

 grace arc allowed ; and if the bill (hould not be paid by five 

 o'clock on the third day, it muft be immediately protefted 

 and returned. In thefe days of grace, Sundays and holi- 

 days are included ; but if the day of payment (hould (all 

 oil a Sunday or holiday, the bill miift be paid on the next 

 following day of bufinefs. This allowance of three days, 

 however, is only made in order that the holJcr of a bill, if 

 9 



