BILL of EXCHAN G E. 
Bill of Exchange, a negotiable fecurity for money, 
well known among merchants. The law's relative to thi.s 
fubjedh, and that of Promissory and Negotiable 
Notes, being implicated together, .we (hall explain them 
under this head. 
A bill of exchange is an open letter of requeft, addreifed 
by one peffon to a fecoiid, defiring him to pay a fum of 
money to a third, or to any other to whom that third per- 
fon (hall order it to be paid : or it may be made payable 
to bearer. The punctuality of acquitting thefe obliga¬ 
tions, when made, is eftential to trade, and the very nerve 
and fpring of commerce ; and no fooner is an accepted 
bill difhonoured, than the parties lofe their credit, and 
are confidered in a (late verging to bankruptcy. For this 
reafon the laws of mod nations have given very extraor¬ 
dinary privileges to bills of exchange. The facility of 
mercantile operations is eftential to every commercial 
country; and, were the claims of merchants to linger un¬ 
der the formalities of courts of law when liquidated by 
bills of exchange,—faith, confidence, and punctuality, 
' would quickly difappear, and the great engine of com- 
1 merce would be totally deftroyed. 
The perfon who makes the bill of exchange, is called 
the drawer-, he to whom it is addreifed, the drawee-, and, 
when he undertakes to pay the amount, lie,is then called 
the acceptor. The peffon to whom it is ordered to be paid 
is called the payee ; and if he appoint another to receive 
the money, that other is called the indorfee, as the payee 
is, with refpefl to him, the indorfor; any one who happens 
for the time to be in polfeffion of the bill is called the 
holder of it. The time at which the payment is limited to be 
' made is various, according to circumfiances. Sometimes 
the amount is made payable at fight, fo many days after fight, 
or at a certain difiance from the dale. Ufance is the time of 
' one, two, or three, months after the date of the bill, accord¬ 
ing to the cuftom of the placesbetween which the exchanges 
run; and the nature of which miifi therefore be (hewn and 
averred in a declaration on fuch a bill.—Double or treble 
ufance is double or treble the ufual time ; a ; nd half ufance 
is half the time. A cufiom has alfo obtained among mer¬ 
chants, that a perfon to whom a bill is addreifed, (hall be 
allowed a few days for payment beyond the term mention¬ 
ed in the bill, called days of grace. In Great Britain and 
Ireland three days are given ; in other places more. If 
the laft of thefe three days happen to be Sunday, the bill 
is to be paid on Saturday, but thefe days of grace are not 
allowed to bills payable at fight. 
Bills of exchange are diftinguifhed by the appellation 
of foreign and inland-, the firft being thole which pafs 
from one country to another, and the latter fuch as pafs 
between parties refiding in the fame country ; and the uni- 
verfal confent of merchants had long fince efiablifhed a 
fyftem of cuftoms relative to foreign bills, which was 
adopted as part of the law in every commercial date. It 
does not appear that inland bills of exchange were very 
frequent in England before the reign of Charles II. and, 
when they were introduced, they were not regarded with 
the fame favour as foreign bills. At length the legifla- 
ture by two different fiatutes, 9 and 10 Will. III. c. 17. 
and 3 and 4 Anne, c. 9. fet both on nearly the fame foot¬ 
ing : fo that what was the law and cuftom of merchants 
with refpetfl to the one is now in moft refpetfls the eftab- 
liftied law of the country with refpedl to the other. The 
following are the moft general forms of inland and foreign 
. bills of exchange; but which are varied according to cir- 
cumftances. 
/.i00 London, Auguft 1, 1798. 
One month after date pay to A. B. or order [or to me, 
or my order"] the fum of one hundred pounds, and place 
the fame to the account of 
To Mr. N. S. , J. W. 
[Place of abode and bujinefs~\ 
Accepted, N. S. 
Vol. III. No. 114. 
29 
London, Auguft 1, 1798. Exchange for/^o fterling. 
At fight [or, at fight of this my only bill of exchange] 
pay to Mr. J. C. or order, fifty pounds fterling, value re¬ 
ceived, and place the fame to account, as per advice [or 
without further advice] from 
To Mr. R. Y. &c. T. L. 
London , Auguft 1, 1798. 
Exchange,for 10,000 liv. Tournoifcs. 
At fifteen days after date [or, atone, two, See. ufances] 
pay this my firft bill of exchange, (fecond and third of the 
fame tenor and date not paid) to Mdfrs. W. R. and Co. 
or order, ten thoufand livres Tournoifes, value received 
of them, and place the fame to account, as per advice from 
To M. J.D.F. E. G. 
Banker in Paris. 
A Promissory Note, is a lefs complicated kind of 
fecurity, and may be defined to be, an engagement in writ¬ 
ing to pay a certain fum of money, mentioned in it, to "a 
perfon named, or to his order, or to the bearer at large. 
At firft thefe notes were confidered only as written evidence 
of a debt ; for it was held that a promilfory note was not 
affignable or indorfible over, within the cuftom of mer¬ 
chants; and that, if in fat! fuch a note had been indorfed 
or afiigned over, the perfon to whom it was fo indorfed or 
afiigned could not maintain an adftion within the cuftom 
againft the drawer of the note ; nor could even the perfon 
to whom it was in the firft inftance made payable bring 
fuch action. 1 Salk. 129. 2 Ld. Raym. 737. But at length 
they were recognized by the legillature, and put on the 
fame footing with inland bills of exchange ; by ftat. 3 and 4 
Anne, c. 9; and made perpetual by ftat. 7 Anne, c. 25. 
which enabls that promilfory notes payable to order or 
bearer, may be aftlgned and indorfed, and adtion main¬ 
tained thereon, as on inland bills of exchange. 
By the (tats. 15 Geo. III. c. 51 : and 17 Geo. 111 . c. 30, 
made perpetual by ftat. 27 Geo. III. c. 16, all negotiable 
notes and bills for lefs than 20s. are declared void ; and 
notes or bills between that fum and 5I. mull be made pay¬ 
able within twenty-one days afterdate; mull particularize 
the name and deferiptions of the payees ; mnft bear date at 
the time and place they are made ; mud be attefted by a 
lubfcribing witnefs, and the indorfement of them mud be 
attended w ith the fame (rridlnefs in all refpedls, and made 
before the notes or bills become due. Bills of exchange 
and promiftory notes mud both be drawn on ftampt paper. 
The damp is proportioned, under ftat. 31 Geo. III. c. 25, 
to the amount of the bill, from 3d. to 2s.—If foreign bills 
are drawn here, the whole fet mull be ftampt—but bills 
drawn abroad are not liable to any (lamp duty. 
Bills of exchange having been firft introduced for the 
convenience of commerce, it was formerly thought that 
no perfon could draw one, or be concerned in the negoti¬ 
ation of it, who was not an actual merchant ; but it foon 
being found neceftary for others, not at all engaged in 
trade, to adopt the fame mode of remittance and fecurity, 
it has been fince decided that any perfon capable of bind¬ 
ing himfelf by a contract, may draw or accept a bill of 
exchange, or be in any way engaged in the negotiation of 
it, (and, fince the ftat. 3 and 4 Anne, c. 9, be a party to 
a promilfory note,) and (hall be confidered as a merchant 
for that ptirpofe. Carth. 82. 2 Vent. 292. Comb. 152. 1 
Show. 125. But an infant cannot be fued on a bill of ex¬ 
change ; nor a feme covert; except in fuch cafes as (he is 
allowed to a£t as a feme foie. 1 Ld. Raym. 147. Salk. 116. 
Where there are two joint-traders, and a bill is drawn 
on both of them, the acceptance of one binds the other, 
if it concern the joint trade ; but it is otherwife, if it con¬ 
cern the acceptor only, in a diftinil intereft and refpebt. 
1 Salk. 126. 1 Ld. Raym. 175. Sometimes exchange is made 
in the name and for the account of a third perfon, by virtue 
of full power and authority given by him, and this is com. 
monly termed procuration ; and fuch bills may be draw n, 
fubferibed, indorfed, accepted, and negotiated, not in the 
niime or for the account of the manager or tranfaftor of 
I any 
