I shall not here repeat what has been collected by many learned men
respecting the important history of this noble invention, but only
lay before my readers an ordinance of the year 1394, concerning the
acceptance of bills of exchange, and also two bills of the year 1404,
as they may serve to illustrate further what has been before said on
the subject by others. These documents are, indeed, more modern than
those found by Raphael de Turre[499] in the writings of the jurist
Baldus[500], which are dated March 9, 1328; but they are attended with
such circumstances as sufficiently prove that the method of transacting
business by bills of exchange was fully established so early as the
fourteenth century; and that the present form and terms were even then
used. For this important information I am indebted to Von Martens,
who found it in a History, written in Spanish, of the maritime trade
and other branches of commerce at Barcelona, taken entirely from the
archives of that city, and accompanied with documents from the same
source, which abound with matter highly interesting[501].
Among these is an ordinance issued by the city of Barcelona in the year
1394, that bills of exchange should be accepted within twenty-four
hours after they were presented; and that the acceptance should be
written on the back of the bill[502].
In the year 1404, the magistrates of Bruges, in Flanders, requested the
magistrates of Barcelona to inform them what was the common practice,
in regard to bills of exchange, when the person who presented a bill
raised money on it in an unusual manner, in the case of its not being
paid, and by these means increased the expenses so much that the drawer
would not consent to sustain the loss. The bill which gave occasion
to this question is inserted in the memorial. It is written in the
short form still used, which certainly seems to imply great antiquity.
It speaks of usance; and it appears that first and second bills were
at that time drawn, and that when bills were not accepted, it was
customary to protest them.
[It may not, perhaps, be uninteresting to the reader to give a short
account of the present mode of conducting transactions of bills of
exchange; this we condense from Waterston’s Encyclopædia of Commerce,
which contains the most recent and practical account.
The individual who issues the bill is called the drawer, the person to
whom it is addressed the drawee, until he consent to honour the draft
or obey the order or bill, by writing his name on the face of it, after
which he is called the acceptor. The bill may be passed from hand to
hand by delivery or _indorsation_, and in the latter case the person
who makes over is called the indorser, and the person who receives
the indorsee. The indorser commonly puts his name on the back, with
or without a direction to pay to a particular person. He who is in
legal possession of the bill and the obligation contained in it, is
called the holder or the payee. There is no particular form for a bill
of exchange required by law, further than that the mandate to pay in
money be distinct, and the person who is to pay, the person who is to
receive, and the time of payment shall be ascertainable beyond a doubt.
By special statute in England, all bills under 20_s._ are void; and
those between that sum and £5 must be made payable within twenty-one
days after date, contain the name and description of the payee, and
bear date at the time of making. Bills of exchange must be on a proper
stamp.
Bills, though they are of the nature of a “chose in action,” which
is not strictly assignable, may be transferred from hand to hand or
negociated. To allow of this, there must be negotiable words, as “or
order” or “bearer.” The various parties upon a bill, besides the
acceptors, indorsers, drawers and others, become liable for its payment
on failure of the acceptor.
Bills of exchange cease in England to be documents of debt on the
expiration of six years from the time named for payment.
In foreign bills, the term “usance” is sometimes employed to express
the period of running in foreign bills. It means a certain time fixed
by custom, as between any two places. An usance between this kingdom
and Rotterdam, Hamburg, Altona, or Paris, or any place in France, is
_one_ calendar month from the date of the bill; an usance between us
and Cadiz, Madrid or Bilboa, _two_; an usance between us and Leghorn,
Genoa, or Venice, _three_.]