406 
Zo the Editor of the Montbly Magazine. 
SIR, 
5 ONS to the letter of your Corre- 
fpondent refpecting the legality of a 
tender made in notes iflued by the Bank of 
England, f beg leave to mention that they 
are not a legal tender, inafmuch as any 
perfon to whom they are offered is at 1i- 
berty to refufe to accept them, and in this 
refpeét there is no difference, whether they 
are of large or fmall amount. 
I am aware that it has been very gene- 
rally fuppofed, that the A&t of the 37 
Geo. III. Chap. — ebviated the diftinc- 
tion which was known to prevail before 
that time between bank-notes and cath; 
but whatever was the object of that act, 
or the intention of the framers and propo- 
fers of it, certain it is, that it did not in 
any manner alter the law refpeéting ten- 
ders, but only provided, that, previous to 
any one being arrefted, the creditor fhould 
not only fwear, as in the ufual affidavit, 
that the debt was juftly due to-him, but 
that no offer of payment had been made 
“< in any note or notes of the Governor 
and Company of the Bank of England, 
expreffed to be payable on demand ;” 
which has merely the effect of preventing 
an arrefi, when fuch an offer has been 
made before the commencement of an ac- 
tion. 
Notwithfanding this provifion of the 
legiflature, the creditor is ftill at liberty, 
even after fuch a tender has been made, 
to ferve his debtor with the procefs of 
the courts ; and, if the debt is jul, the 
defendant muft cefort to the old remedy 
of paying fuch a fum of money into court 
as he admits to be due, and which cannot 
be done without the permiffion of the 
court, and on his undertaking to pay the 
cofts the plaintiff may have incurred up 
to the time of the defendant’s anplication. 
It is to be obferved, that although a 
tender in bank-notes isnot friftly legal, 
yet, if the creditor does not object to re- 
ceive the debt on that fpecial account, viz.’ 
by faying that he will not accept bank- 
notes, or words to that effect, that the ten- 
der is as good and effectual, to all intents 
and purpoles, as it had been made in the 
eugrent coin of the realm. Common pru- 
dence, however, digtates the preference of 
making the offer in cafh where 1t pof- 
fibiy cah be done, as immediately that 
an aétion is commenced, a tender is of - 
ge avail, i Uae, 
There are fame other peculiarities relat- 
ig 69 the law of tenders,. but it is very. 
probable your seaders may be glready ac- 
*, 5 ‘N 
Tender of Bank Notes.- 
[June 1, 
quainted with them; and as the queftion 
of your Correfpondent applies only to the 
legality of Bank of England Notes, I 
fhall_ not occupy any more of your valu- 
able Publication on the fubject, conceiving 
that what is faid above will be thought a 
fufficient anfwer to that queftion. Before | 
I conclude this letter, I cannot help ad- 
ding my fmall tribute of praife, to that 
which the number of your readers indi- 
cates you to poffefs, for your endeavours 
to promote the knowledge of circumftances 
fo generally interefting as the prefent. In 
my opinion, fociety cannot be better be- 
nefited than by fuch explanations, which 
mutt inevitably tend either to the diminu- 
tion of law-fuits, or of the expence at- 
tending them, which, all will agree, ** is a 
confummation moft devoutly to be wifh. 
ed ;’” for, the more they are agitated, the 
plainer it will appear that there is no want 
of provifion in the laws againft unneceflary - 
expence, but that it is entirely owing fo 
the blameable ignorance of individuals 
that fo much lois is in moft cafes ful- 
tained.. I am, Sir, 
May 11, 1801. Your’s, &c. 
- S. H. 
—— Li a 
For the Monthly Magazine. 
ACCOUNT of the DEPARTMENT Of FI- 
NISTERRE, i# FRANCE, extracted from 
CAMBRAY’S VOYAGE dams le FINis- 
TERRE, 0“ ETAT dé ce DEPARTE- 
MENT; @#@ 1794 €t 1725+ 
(Continued from p. 136.) 
Pye of St. Pol-de- Leon —From 
Morlaix to St. Pol. de-Leon the read 
paffes for 14 miles through arid waftes. St. 
Pol, which was before the Revolution the 
fee of a bifhop, is now chief place of a 
canton, to which Rofcoff, Plouenen, Plou- 
soulm, and the ifland of Bas are {ubordi- 
nate. The whole canton contains 12,887 
inhabitants. ‘Ihe houfes in St. Pol de- 
Leon are very fimply and badly conftruét- 
ed: and indeed throughout the whole de- 
partment of Finifterre monuments of good 
architecture are extremely rare, and few 
ftone edifices met with. In the town it- © 
felf there is not even one public well: and 
all the circumjacent country is ill-fupplied 
with water. The peafantry in this dif- 
trict area good honeft kind of people; but 
eafily irritated by the leaft affront, efpeci- 
ally when they are intoxicated. Their 
courage rifes with the increafe of danger: 
they are therefore good foldiers, who never 
give way,but mult be treated with mildnefe 
by their officers. tae 
/ 
Bretagne 
