default of the place, at the actual residence of the drawee or otherwise at his last abode. If the domicile of the drawee cannot be found, the proceedings should be taken against him at the offices of the municipality, where copy of the protest should be sent. Notice of the protest given to the drawee enures to the benefit of all the parties named in the bill. When the bill names certain parties to be applied to in case of need, the protest should state the answer given by such parties, as well as if they have accepted or paid. All the protests on a bill of exchange should be made in order of date, and on a single deed, and the notary should give to the holder a certified copy of the protest as well as the original. The protest should be made before three o'clock in the afternoon. The notaries should keep the bill and protest in their hands till after sunset, in order to give the drawee time to pay. The death or bankruptcy of the drawee does not excuse the holder from protesting the bill (a). Sweden. The protest should be made on working days between nine o'clock in the morning and six o'clock in the evening, by a public notary if there be one in the place, or otherwise by a municipal notary and witnesses. The protest should contain a literal copy of the bill and indorsement, the demand to pay, the motives of refusal, and the exceptions offered by the notary in the name of the plaintiff. If the drawee cannot be found, the protest should be made at his house. The holder must protest the bill even when the drawee is dead or has become bankrupt (b). Notice of dishonour must be given. SECTION XIV. NOTICE OF NON-PAYMENT. BRITISH LAW. Besides protesting the bill in case of non-payment, the holder must send notice of dishonour to all parties against whom he means to proceed. Notice means notification of the fact of the bill having been dishonoured after the pre (a) Spanish Code of Commerce, $$ 511-525. (b) Swedish Law of 1816. sentment took place (a). Showing the party's knowledge of the fact that the bill will contain. No precise form of words is necessary for such a notice, but it What it should must state the nature of the bill, and inform the party to whom it is sent that the bill had become due, that it was presented, and that it was dishonoured (c). It is not necessary in such a notice to state on whose behalf payment is demanded, or where the bill is lying (d). A notice may be given by writing or by parol (e). (a) Per B. Alderson, Burgh v. Legge, 5 M. & W. 422. (b) Per B. Parke, ibid. (c) Hartley's case, 4 B. & C. 339; Allen v. Edmundson, 2 Exch. 719; Caunt. Thompson, 7 C. B. 400; Chard v. Fox, 14 Q. B. 200; Stockmann v. Parr, 11 M. & W. 809. (d) Woodthorpe v. Lawes, 2 M. & W. 109. (e) Housego v. Cowne, 2 M. & W. 348. The following notices have been held insufficient : "This is to give you notice that a bill drawn by you and accepted by Josiah Bateman for £47 18s. 9d. due July 19, 1835, is unpaid and lies due at Mr. Furze's, 65, Fleet-street." "A bill for £29 17s. 3d. drawn by Ward on Hunt, due yesterday, is unpaid; and I am sorry to say, the person at whose house it is made payable don't speak very favourably of the acceptor's punctuality. I should like to see you upon it to-day." "William Howard's acceptance for £21 48. 4d. due on Saturday is unpaid; he has promised to pay it in a week or ten days. I shall be glad to see you upon it as early as possible." (Furze r. Sharwood, 2 Q. B. 388.) "I give you notice that a bill for £drawn by you upon, &c., lies at, &c., dishonoured." (Beauchamp v. Cash, D. & R. 3.) "This is to inform you that the bill I took of you, £15 2s. 6d., is not took up, and 4s. 6d. expense, and the money I must pay immediately. My son will be in London on Friday morning." (Messenger v. Southey, 1 M. &. S. 76.) The following notices have been held sufficient : The attorney of an indorsee of a bill who had received notice of dishonour, wrote to the drawer as follows "I am requested to apply to you for payment of £35 9s. 6d., the amount of an over-due acceptance drawn by you and accepted by E. M., and to inform you, that unless the same be paid to me, with noting, interest, and 5s. for this application, before eleven to-morrow, proceedings will be taken without further notice." (Wathen v. Blackwell, 6 Jur. 738, Exch.) "I hereby give you notice that a bill of exchange for £50 at three months after date, by A. upon and accepted by B. and indorsed by you, lies, &c., dishonoured." (King v. Bickley, 2 Q. B. 419.) "Your draft upon C. for £50, due 3rd March, is returned to us unpaid, and if not taken up this day proceedings will be taken against you for the recovery thereof." (Robson v. Curlewis, 2 Q. B. 421.) "We beg to inform you that your indorsement of J. C.'s acceptance of £40, due the 17th June, 1842, remains due, with interest and expenses, as How it should be sent. When it should be sent. If a notice of dishonour be posted by the holder in due time, he is not prejudiced if through mistake or delay of the post-office it be not delivered in due time (a). If the notice sent to the drawer of a bill arrives too late through indiscretion, it is for the party to say whether the holder used due diligence to find the drawer's address (b). Evidence must be given that the letter was put into the post-office (c). The postoffice mark raises a presumption that the notice of dishonour was sent at that time, but it is not conclusive (d). It may, however, be sent by the post or by a special messenger (e). Notice of dishonour of foreign bills may be sent by the first regular ship bound for the place, and even by a chance ship bound elsewhere if it may reach sooner. Notice must be given within a reasonable time, and what that time is must depend upon the circumstances of particular cases (f). The time for giving notice is the departure of the post on the day following that on which the party receives the intelligence of the dishonour (g). The party need not write on the very day that he receives the notice. If there be no post on the following day, it makes no difference. The next post after the day on which he receives the notice is soon enough (h). When both parties reside in the same place, or in London, each party should have a day to give notice (i). But if the notice of dishonour is sent by post on the day on which the party ought to receive it, it must be proved affirmatively that the letter was put in in time to reach the party that day, according to the course of the post (k). The post-office mark is not conclusive evidence of the time when a letter is Time allowed posted (). Notice of dishonour of a bill or note may be given the same day it becomes due, as soon as the acceptor for the notice. also other bills, and to which we re- "B.'s acceptance to J., £500, due (a) Woodcock v. Houldsworth, 16 M. & W. 124. (b) Siggers v. Brown, 1 M. & Rob. 520. (c) Hetherington v. Kemp, 4 Camp. 194. (d) Stocken v. Collins, 7 M. & W.516. (e) Pearson v. Cranlan, 2 Smith, 404. (f) Darbishire v. Parker, 6 East, 3. (g) Williams v. Smith, 2 B. & Ald. 500. (h) Geill v. Jeremy, 1 M. & M. 62. (i) Smith v. Mullett, 2 Camp. 208. (k) Fowler v. Hendon, 4 Tyrw. 1002. (7) Stocken v. Collins, 7 M. & W. 515. or maker has refused payment (a). Each party into whose hands a dishonoured bill may pass is allowed one entire day for the purpose of giving notice (b). The holder of a bill of exchange is excused for not giving notice of its dishonour in the usual time, where the day on which he should regularly have given the notice happens to be a public festival, during which he is strictly forbidden by his religion to attend to any secular affairs (c). may A notice of dishonour need not be given by the holder; it be given by any one who is a party to the bill (d), but not by a stranger (e). A party who had himself been already discharged by the laches of the holder is also excluded (ƒ). Notice to the drawer by any party to the bill, enures to the benefit of all (g). If the bill is in the hands of an agent or banker, he may give notice as if he were himself the real holder. Notice should be given to all persons who are parties to the bill, and more especially to those from whom the holder expects to be indemnified. The notice may be given to an agent, and may be left verbally with the drawer's wife. In case of bankruptcy of the drawer, or of an indorser, notice must be given to the bankrupt, or to the trustee vested with his estate on behalf of his creditors (h). If the bankrupt has absconded, and no assignees are yet appointed, and a messenger is in possession, notice should be given to such messenger or to the petitioning creditor (i). If the party be dead, notice should be given to his personal representatives (k). When several persons are liable together on a bill, notice to one is equivalent to notice to all (1). Prima facie, the drawer of the bill, and every indorser thereof antecedent to the holder thereof at the time of the dishonour, are all entitled to notice, because each of them is presumed to be entitled to bring an action upon paying it (m). (a) Burbridge v. Manners, 3 Camp. 193. (b) Bray v. Hadwen, 5 M. & S. 70. (c) 39 & 40 Geo. 3, c. 42; 7 & 8 Geo. 4, c. 19; Lindo v. Unsworth, 2 Camp. 601. (d) Harrison v. Ruscoe, 15 M. & W. 234. (e) Stewart v. Kennett, 2 Camp. 178. (f) Harrison v. Ruscoe, 15 M. & W. (g) Wilson v. Swabey, 1 Stark. 34. (m) Turner v. Stones, 1 D. & L. 130. Who should give the notice. To whom it should be given. Where it should be sent. What will excuse a want of notice. Acknowledg. ment of lia bility. Ignorance of the place of residence of the party entitled to notice. The notice should be sent to the place of business or to the residence of the party. Going to the counting house during business hours, and finding no one there to receive the notice, is equivalent to a dispensation of notice (a). But going and knocking at the door is not equivalent to actual notice. Sending a notice by post, putting it through the door, or delivering a verbal notice by a person found there, would be sufficient (b). It would be no excuse for the omission of due notice to a entitled to it that he has sustained no injury or prejudice party by the want of notice. The omission is sufficient to discharge him from all liability (c). Notice need not be sent where there exists a previous agreement with the party entitled to it, by which it is rendered unnecessary (d). So it may be omitted where the party entitled to notice dispenses with it, either by an express or implied consent, or by payment or part payment, or acknowledgment of liability (e). So the drawer of a bill, who has no effects in the hands of the acceptor, and who has no right upon any other ground to expect that the bill will be paid, is not entitled to notice of its dishonour (f). But if he at any time had effects in the hands of the drawee, or he had reasonable ground to expect that the bill would be honoured on the strength of a consignment, he is then entitled to notice (g). When the holder of a bill does not know where the party entitled to notice is to be found, he will be excused for not giving regular notice of dishonour, provided he uses reasonable diligence to discover the residence of the party (h). And if, after a lapse of time, the owner discovers such residence, he has still the same time to give notice as in the first instance (¿). A physical or moral impossibility will be a sufficient excuse for omitting to give notice. And no notice is necessary when the (a) Allen v. Edmundson, 2 Exch. (c) Dennis v. Morrice, 3 Esp. 158. (f) Bickerdike v. Bollman, 1 T. R. 406; Kemble v. Mills, 2 Scott, N. R. 121. (g) Rucker v. Hiller, 3 Camp. 216. (h) Bateman v. Joseph, 2 Camp. 461 ; Chapcott v. Curlewis, 2 M. & Rob. 484. (i) Firth v. Thrush, 8 B. & C. 387. |