place appointed, and not elsewhere, in order to charge the drawer or indorser.

Three days of grace apply equally, according to the custom Days of grace. of merchants, to foreign and inland bills, and promissory notes, and as between the indorser and indorsee of a negotiable note; and the acceptor or maker has within a reasonable time of the end of business or bank hours of the third day of grace (being the third day after the paper falls due) to pay. The maker or acceptor is entitled to the uttermost convenient time allowed by the custom of business of that kind in the place where the bill is presented, and he is not entitled to any future time.

If the third day of grace falls on Sunday, or a great holiday, as the 4th of July, or a day of public rest, the demand must be made on the day preceding. The three days of grace apply equally to bills payable at sight, or at a certain time; but a bill or note payable on demand, or where no time of payment is expressed, is payable immediately on presentment, and is not entitled to the days of grace. A bill payable at so many days' sight, means so many days after legal sight or acceptance; and when the time is to be computed by days, as so many days after sight, the day of the date of the instrument is by the modern practice excluded from the computation.

It is equally unseasonable to demand payment before the expiration of the third day of grace, as after the day. The demand must be made on the third day of grace, or on the second, if the third day be a day of public rest, and in default of such demand the drawer of the bill, and the indorser of the note, are discharged. If, however, a note be made for negotiation at a bank where custom is to demand payment, and to give notice on the fourth day, that custom forms a part of the law of the contract, and the parties are presumed to agree to be governed in that case by the usage. The same rule applies when a bank, by usage, treats a particular day as a holiday, though not legally known as such, and made demands and gave notice on the preceding day; the parties to a note discounted there, and cognisant with the usage, are bound by it.

Though a bill payable at a given time has never been presented to the drawee for acceptance, the demand upon the drawee for payment is to be made on the third day of grace, for by the usage of the commercial world, which now enters into

Time of maturity.

abolished.

every bill and note of a mercantile character, except where it is positively excluded, a bill does not become due on the day mentioned on its face, but on the last day of grace (a).

Germany.—A bill of exchange is payable on the day established in the instrument itself. If the time of payment has been fixed for the middle of the month, the bill will be payable on the 15th of that month. A bill issued at sight is payable on presentation. Such a bill must be presented for payment at the time specified in the instrument, and in the absence of any specific indication within two years of its date under penalty of forfeiting the right of recourse against the drawer and indorsers. If an indorser has added to his indorsement a special time when presentation should be made, his obligation on the bill ceases, in case the bill has not been presented within that time. Bills of exchange payable at a fixed time after sight, or after date, will fall due, if the time is fixed by the day, on the last day of the time; and in calculating such time, the day on which the bill payable after date has been issued, or the bill payable after sight has been presented for acceptance, will not be included. If the term is fixed by weeks, months, or a space of time which embraces several months (year, half-year, a quarter of a year), the bill will fall due on that day of the week or of the month which corresponds by its denomination, or by its number, to the day of issuing or presentation; if that day be wanting in the month of payment, the time of payment is the last day of the month. The expression "half a month" will be considered equivalent to fifteen days. If the bill be issued at one or several complete months, and half a month, the fifteen

Days of grace days will be calculated at the end. Days of grace are not allowed. If the bill be issued after date in a country where the old style is still maintained, without any declaration in the bill that it is dated in the new style, or if the bill be dated in both styles, the day of payment will be calculated from that day of the new style which corresponds to the day appearing by the old style as the day of issue. Fair or market bills will be payable at the time of payment fixed by the law of the fair or market-place, and where the same is not specified, on the day preceding the legal end of the fair or market. If the fair

(a) Kent's Comment. vol. iii. p. 117.

or market be limited to a single day, the bill is payable on that day (a).

Time of ma

turity.

Denmark.-A bill of exchange payable at several months after date, becomes due the day and month corresponding to that of its acceptance, or that of the date when it has been drawn, without regard to the number of days included in the month. Half-months are always computed as fifteen days. Bills of exchange payable at a certain number of days are computed from the day of their date or acceptance, to the day of maturity, including Sundays and holidays. The holder of a bill has a right to exact payment from the acceptor of the bill, on the day of maturity, by delivering the bill to him receipted. The acceptor who pays a bill of exchange before maturity is responsible for any irregularity in the payment, even should no irregularity be apparent in the bill. Eight days of grace are Days of grace. granted to the acceptor; but if he does not discharge during this time, the holder may put off two days more before protesting the bill for non-payment. When the last day of grace is a Sunday or a holiday, the bill ought to be paid the next working day. Where the acceptor belongs to a religious body observing other festival days than those legally adopted in the country, he cannot obtain another delay for payment. If the second of the additional days that the holder may grant before protesting falls on a Sunday or a festival day, the protest ought to be made the preceding working day, without regard to the days of grace granted to the acceptor. Bills of exchange at sight are payable twenty-four hours after acceptance (b).

Holland. The maturity of a bill drawn at one or several days or months, or at one or several usances, is fixed by the day of the acceptance, or by the date of the protest in case of nonacceptance, but the time runs from the following and not from the same day. The usance is of thirty days, running from the day following the date of the bill. But in bills of exchange not payable at sight, the thirty days commence from the day after their date. A bill of exchange payable at a fair, is due the day previous to the close of the fair, or on the day of the fair, if it lasts one day only. If the day of payment of a bill payable at a specific time falls on a Sunday, it is payable on the next day. A

(a) German Law on change, $$ 30-35.

Bills of Ex- (b) Danish Code, §§ 48-55.

Time of maturity.

Lost bills.

bill of exchange is considered due the moment the drawee becomes bankrupt, and the holder may have it protested. But the drawer and indorser may delay the payment till the bill falls due, by giving security (a).

Portugal.-A bill of exchange payable at a specific time is payable on the day when it becomes due at 'change hours, or until sunset, if it be not an exchange day. A bill of exchange payable at sight is payable on presentation, within the same hours. A bill of exchange is deemed to become due the moment the drawee becomes bankrupt, in which case the holder may have it protested at once. Yet the drawer and indorsers may, in such a case, by giving security, postpone the payment till the bill becomes due. If a bill of exchange has been issued on a set of many copies, and the drawee has accepted several of them, he is bound to pay all those accepted copies which may be in the hands of different holders, though he would have a right of recourse against those who have made double use of the bill. The acceptor is not bound to pay a bill which has been lost to the party who presents it, unless the latter can prove his right to it, and unless he gives sufficient guarantee for the security of the acceptor. The naked holder of a bill may have it protested in any case where the law requires it, and demand payment of it by giving security, if he can prove by writing that the bill was sent to him to get cashed. The holder of a bill who had received payment, as well as all the preceding indorsers, are responsible towards the party who paid it for the validity of the preceding indorsements. The acceptor is not bound to pay, if the holder does not give up the bill which bears his acceptance, duly discharged, except where the bill was lost. In case of part payment, the acceptor may demand that the same shall be noted in the bill, and that a receipt of the sum be given to him, but he has no right to ask that the bill be given up (b).

Russia.-A bill of exchange payable at sight is not due until twenty-four hours after its presentation for acceptance. The maturity of a bill of exchange payable at one or several days after sight, is presumed to have arrived after the expiration of the last of the days indicated in the bill, not including the day of presentation, from which date the days must be reckoned.

(a) Dutch Code of Commerce, $$ (b) Portuguese Code, §§ 370-395.

149-154.

The maturity of a bill payable at so many days or months after date, is considered to have arrived after the expiration of the last day. A bill of exchange payable at usance, is due fifteen days after its presentation for acceptance. The maturity of a bill of exchange at twelve months takes place in the following year, on the same day, and in the same month, when the bill was signed. If it be leap-year, and the bill bears date the 29th of February, it shall fall due on the 28th February in the following year. For bills of exchange coming from abroad, the maturity is calculated according to the new calendar, and for those coming from the interior, according to the old one. Generally speaking, if the bill falls due on a holiday, or royal fete, it is payable on the next day. The same rule is prescribed as regards the Saturday amongst the Jews. If it so happen that there are several blank days following each other, the bill will fall due on the day after the first blank day. And bills which fall due on the following days are then payable, although they should be blank days. All these regulations relative to maturity apply equally to both kinds of bills. The days of grace are reckoned from the morning of the day which follows that on which the bill becomes due; and they are, on bills of exchange payable at sight, three days, and on bills payable on a specific day, ten days, including holidays. If the last day of grace falls on a holiday, that day would not be reckoned. The same rule is observed as respects the Jews for Saturdays. Days of grace are not granted on bills of exchange payable at fairs, nor on those whose acceptance has been refused (a).

Sweden. After a bill of exchange has become due, six days Days of grace. of grace, including Sundays and holidays, are granted for the payment; if the day the bill falls due is Sunday, the bill is payable the day preceding. Such days of grace are optional as regards the maker or drawee. A bill of exchange payable at sight, or at two or three days after presentation, does not enjoy days of grace; it must be paid on the day it falls due, or, at the latest, within twenty-four hours. A bill of exchange payable at half a month, is due on the 15th; it enjoys the days of grace. A bill of exchange payable after date, or at a certain period after its maturity, enjoys only such days of

(a) Russian Code, §§ 350-363.

VOL. I.

FF