PREFACE.

THE importance of this Act, affecting as it does, the entire mercantile community of this vast Empire, and embodying the numerous rules laid down by the English and Indian Courts, since the time of James the First, and the various Statutes and Acts since the time of Anne, on the subject of negotiable instruments, induced me to compile an edition of it containing references to the cases on which the rules were founded, in the hope that it would be of some practical use to those members of the profession who have the advantage of access to reports, and also, by giving copious quotations from the judgments in which the reasons for the rules are to be found, of service to the much larger body of the profession which has not that advantage. I would further hope that it may be found useful to the mercantile and trading community, whom its practical application and working most deeply affect. Its lines are founded on the works of Byles and Chitty on Bills, and the parts relating to Noting and Protests, on Brooke's Office of a Notary. The work will be found to contain between 700 and 800 references to English and Indian cases and in this respect will, I believe, be the first of its kind. The Act is laid

down by the Rules of the Madras High Court, under the Legal Practitioner's Act, as one of the subjects for examination for Pleaderships. I have but rarely attempted to offer original commentary on its provisions, and trust that the plan I have adopted of setting out the reasons and authorities for the rules, will be found useful.

press, the Eng

While the work was passing through the lish Legislature passed its first Code, under the title of the Bills of Exchange Act, 1882. This I have added in an additional Appendix, and have also inserted a tabular statement showing the correspondence, between the Indian and English provisions. Another English Act was passed during the same period, the Married Women's Property Act, (45 & 46 Vict. c. 75) which repeals the Statutes I have quoted in the notes to section twenty-six.

PATRICK D. SHAW.

MADRAS, January 1883.

ABBREVIATIONS

USED IN REFERENCE TO

LAW REPORTS AND TEXT BOOKS

WITH THEIR DATES.

Ad. & E.
App. Case.

B. & Ad.

B. & Ald.

B. & C.

B. & P. B. & S. Beav.

Beng. L. R.
Bing.

Bing. N. C.
Bligh.

Bom. H. C. R.
Bourke.

Brod. & P.

Burr.

C. B.

C. B., N. S.

C. &. J. C. & M.

C. M. & R.

Camp.
C. & K.

C. & P.

Ch. D.

Cl. & F.

Adolphus and Ellis' Reports, K. B. & Q. B., (1834-1840).
Law Reports, New Series, Appeal Cases, (1876 current).
Barnewall and Adolphus' Reports, K. B., (1830-1834).
Barnewall and Alderson Reports, K. B., (1817—1822).
Barnewall and Cresswell Reports, K. B., (1822-1830).
Bosanquet and Puller's Reports, C. P., (1796-1807).
Best and Smith's Reports, Q. B., (1861-1869).
Beavan's Reports, Chancery, (1838-1866).

Bengal Law Reports, Calcutta High Court, (1868–1875).
Bingham's Reports, C. P., (1822-1834).

Bingham's New Cases, C. P., (1834-1840).

Bligh's Reports, House of Lords, (1819-1821).
Bombay High Court Reports, (1862-1875).
Bourke's Reports, Calcutta High Court, (1867).
Broderip and Bingham's Reports, C. P., (1819-1822).
Burrow's Reports, K. B., (1757-1771).

Common Bench Reports, C. P., (1845-1856).

Common Bench Reports, New Series, C. P., (1856–1865).

Crompton and Jervis' Reports, Exch., (1830-1832).
Crompton and Meesons' Reports, Exch., (1832—1834).
Crompton Meeson and Roscoe's Reports, Exch., (1834-
1836).

Campbell's Reports, Nisi Prius, (1808–1816).

Carrington and Kirwan's Reports, Nisi Prius, (1843-1850).
Carrington and Payne's Reports, Nisi Prius, (1823-1841).
Law Reports, New Series Chancery, (1876 current).

Clark and Finnelly's Reports, House of Lords, (1831—1846),

Comb.

Co. Lit.
Cowp.

C. P. D.

D. & Ry.

De G. F. & 7.

De G. & F.

De G. J. & S.

De G. & S.
Doug.
E. & B.

E. B. & E.
E. & E.

East.
Esp.
Exch.

F. & F.

G. & D.

H. & C.

H. & N.

H. L. R.

Hyde.

I. L. R. Cal.

Comberbach, K. B., (1681-1699).

Coke on Littleton (I. Inst).

Cowper's Reports, K. B., (1774-1778).

Law Reports, New Series, Common Pleas, (1876 current).
Dowling and Ryland's Reports, Nisi Prius (1822—1823).
De Gex, Fisher and Jones' Reports, Bankruptcy, (1860).
De Gex, and Jones' Reports, Bankruptcy, (1860).

De Gex, Jones and Smith's Reports, Bankruptcy (1862-
1865).

De Gex, and Smale, Chancery, (1846-1852).

Douglas' Reports, K. B., (1778-1784).

Ellis and Blackburn's Reports, Q. B., (1852-1858).
Ellis, Blackburn and Ellis' Reports, Q. B., (1858).
Ellis and Ellis' Reports, Q. B., (1858-1861).

East's Reports, K. B., (1801-1812).

Espinasse's Reports, Nisi Prius, (1793-1807).

Welsby, Hurlstone and Gordon's Reports, Exch., (1847—
1856).

Foster and Finlason's Reports, Nisi Prius, (1858-1867).
Gale and Davison's Reports, Q. B. (1841-1843).

Hurlstone and Coltman's Reports, Exch., (1862–1865).
Hurlstone and Norman, Exch., (1856—1861).

Clark and Finnelly's House of Lords Reports, (1831-1846).
Hyde's Reports, Calcutta, (1862-1864).

Indian Law Reports, (1876, current) Calcutta Series.

L. F. N. S.

L. R.

L. T.

Ld. Raym.
M. & S.

M. & W.

M. H. C. R.
M. & Gr.
Man. & Ry.
Moo. & M.

Moo. Ind. App.
Moo. P. C.

Jurist Reports-In All Courts, (1837-1854).

99

New Series, (1855-1866).
Kay and Johnson's Reports, Equity, (1854-1858).
Law Journal-In all Courts, (1823-1831).

99

New series, (1832 current).
Law Reports-In all Courts, (1865-1875).
Law Times Reports,-In all Courts, (1859 current).
Lord Raymond's Reports, K. B., (1694-1734).
Maule and Selwyn's Reports, K. B., (1813–1817).
Meeson and Welsby's Reports, Exch., (1836-1847).
Madras High Court Reports, (1862-1875).

Manning and Granger's Reports, C. P., (1840-1844).
Manning and Ryland's Reports, K. B., (1827-1830).
Moody and Malkin's Reports, Nisi Prius, (1827-1830).
Moore's Indian Appeal Cases, P. C., (1836-1872).
Moore's Privy Council Cases, (1836-1873).