that mode of limitation is regulated. See Fearne, Cont. Rem, 401, n. An executory bequest cannot be prevented or destroyed by any alteration whatsoever in the estate, out of which or after which it is limited. 8 Coke, 96 a; 10 id. 476. And this privilege of executory bequests, which exempts them from being barred or destroyed, is the foundation of an invariable rule, that the event on which an interest of this sort is permitted to take effect is such as must happen within a life or lives in being, and twenty-one years and the fraction of another year, allowing for the period of gestation, afterwards. Fearne, Cont. Rem. 431. 9. Legacies may be made conditional. In such case, the condition may be either precedent or subsequent: in the former case, no interest vests in the legatee until the performance of the condition, and in the latter, it is liable to be defeated by the failure or non-performance of the condition. 2 Williams, Exec. 1131 et seq. No particular form of words is requisite to constitute one a residuary legatee. It must appear to be the intention of the testator that he shall take the residue of the estate, after paying debts and meeting all other appointments of the will. 2 Williams, Exec. 1310 et seq. The right of the executor to the residue of the estate when there is no residuary legatee is well established, both at law and in equity, in England, except so far as it is controlled by statute, 2 P. Will. 340; 3 Atk. Ch. 228; 7 Ves. Ch. 228: but the rule has been controlled in equity by aid of slight presumptions in favor of the next of kin. 1 Brown, Ch. 201; 14 Sim. Ch. 8, 12; 2 Small & G. 241; 14 Ves. Ch. 197. The rule never obtained in this country, it is believed, to any great extent. 3 Binn. Penn. 557; 9 Serg. & R. Penn. 424; 6 Mass. 153; 2 Hayw. No. C. 298; 4 Leigh, Va. 163; 13 III. 117. 10. The assent of the executor to a specific legacy is requisite to vest the title in the legatee. 1 Wash. Va. 308; 1 Bail. So. C. 504; 1 Harr. & J. Md. 138; 2 Ired. Eq. No. C. 34; 12 Ala. N. s. 532; 4 Fla. 144; 11 Humphr. Tenn. 559; 2 Md. Ch. Dec. 162. This will often be presumed where the legatee was in possession of the thing at the decease of the testator, and the executor acquiesces in his right. See 4 Dev. No. C. 267; 3 Leigh, Va, 682; 6 Pick. Mass. 126; 6 Call. Va. 55. Abatement. The general pecuniary legacies are subject to abatement whenever the assets are insufficient to answer the debts and specific legacies. The abatement must be upon all pro rata, 4 Brown, Ch. 349, 350; 13 Sim. Ch. 440; but a general pecuniary legatee is not bound to abate in favor of the residuary legatee. 1 Story, Eq. Jur. 28 555575; Brightly, Eq. Jur. 387, 388, 389. Specific legatees must abate, pro rata, when all the assets are exhausted except specific devises, and prove insufficient to pay debts. 2 Vern. Ch. 756. In New York, they must contribute to make up the share of a child born after the execution of the will, and not provided for in it. 5 Paige, Ch. N. Y. 588. 11. Ademption of legacies. A specific legacy is revoked by the sale or change of form of the thing bequeathed: as, by converting a gold chain into a cup, or wool into cloth, or cloth into garments, 2 Brown, Ch. 108, 112; but the change of the form of a security is not an ademption. 23 N. H. 212. A demonstrative legacy is not adeemed by the sale or change of the fund. 5 Barb. N. Y. 312; 10 Beav. Rolls, 547; 15 Jur. 982; 16 id. 1130. A legacy to a child is regarded in courts of equity as a portion for such child: hence, when the testator, after giving such a legacy, settles the child and gives a portion, it is regarded as an ademption of the legacy. And it will make no difference that the portion given in settlement is less than the legacy: it will still adeem the legacy pro tanto. 2 Vern. Ch. 257; 15 Beav. Rolls, 565; 1 P. Will. 681; 5 Mylne & C. 29; 2 Story, Eq. Jur. 1111-1113. Payment. A legacy given generally, if no time of payment be named, is due at the death of the testator, although not payable until the executor has time to settle the estate in due course of law. See DEVISE, 6. Legacies are not due by the civil law or the common law until one year after the decease of the testator. The same term is generally allowed the executor in the American states to dispose of the estate and pay debts, and sometimes, by special order of the probate court, this is extended, from time to time, according to circumstances. 5 Binn. Penn. 475; 5 Paige, Ch. N. Y. 573; 1 Des. So. C. 112; 16 Beav. Rolls, 298. 12. An annuity given by will shall commence at the death of the testator, and the first payment fall due one year thereafter. 3 Madd. Ch. 167. A distinction is taken between an annuity and a legacy to enjoy the interest during life. In the latter case, no interest begins to accumulate until the end of one year from the death of the testator. 7 Ves. Ch. 96; 2 Roper, Leg. 1253. But this point is left in some doubt in the American cases. The following hold that a child's portion, payable at a certain age, draws interest from the death of the testator, Tilghman, C.J., 5 Binney, 477, 479; 4 Rawle, Penn. 113, 119; but this rule does not apply when any other provision is made for the child. 6 Paige, Ch. N. Y. 299. 13. Where legatees are under disabilities, as infancy or coverture, the executor cannot discharge himself by payment, except to some party having a legal right to receive the same on the part of the legatee, which in the case of an infant is the legally-appointed guardian, and in the case of a married woman the husband; but in the latter case the executor may decline to pay the legacy until the husband make a suitable provision out of it for the wife, according to the order of the court of chancery. See, on the above points, 1 P. Will. 285; 1 Johns. Ch. N. Y. 3; 9 Vt. 41; 1 Drewr. 71. The proper course in such cases is for the executor to deposit the money on interest, subject to the order of the court of chancery. 2 Williams, Exec. 4th Am. ed. 1206-1220. The executor is liable for interest upon legacies, whenever he has realized it, and in general he is liable for interest after the legacy is due. 2 Williams, Exec. 1283 et seq. But he may excuse himself by paying the money into the court of chancery. 2 P. Will. 67. So, too, if the testator is compelled to pay the money out of his own funds on account of the devastavit of a co-executor, and the matter has lain along for many years on account of the infancy of the legatees, no interest was allowed under the special circumstances until the filing of the bill. 9 Vt. 41. The proper remedy for the recovery of a legacy is in equity. 5 Term, 690. 13. Satisfaction of debt by legacy. In courts of equity, if a legacy equal or exceed the debt, it is presumed to have been intended to go in satisfaction, Prec. in Chanc. 240; 3 P. Will. 353; 4 Madd. 325; but if the legacy be less than the debt, it shall not be deemed satisfaction pro tanto. 2 Salk. 508; 1 Ves. Sen. Ch. 263; 2 Hou. L. Cas. 153. But courts allow very slight circumstances to rebut this presumption of payment: as, where the debt was not contracted until after the making of the will, 2 P. Will. Ch. 343; where the debt is unliquidated, and the amount due not known, 1 P. Will. 299; where the debt was due upon a bill or note negotiable, 3 Ves. Ch. 561; where the legacy is made payable after the debt falls due, 3 Atk. Ch. 96; where the legacy appears from the will to have been given diverso intuitu, 2 Ves. Sen. Ch. 635; where there is direction in the will for the payment of all debts and legacies, or the legacy is expressed to be for some other reason, 1 P. Will. 410; see, also, 3 Atk. Ch. 65, 68; 2 Story, Eq. Jur. 1110-1113; Brightly, Eq. Jur. 22 382, 391; 2 Dev. & B. Eq. No. C. 66; 3 Wash. C. C. 48; 6 Penn. St. 18. The American cases do not favor the rule that a legacy is primâ facie payment, 12 Wend. N. Y. 67; 2 Hill, N. Y. | 576; 2 Gill & J. Md. 185; and its soundness was early questioned in England. 1 P. Will. 410. express Release of debt by a legacy. If one leave a legacy to his debtor, it is not to be regarded as a release of the debt unless that appears to have been the intention of the testator. 4 Brown, Ch. 227; 15 Sim. Ch. 554. Where one appoints his debtor his executor, it is at law regarded as a release of the debt, Coke, Litt. 264; 8 Coke, 136 a; but this is now controlled by statute in England and in many of the United States. But in equity it is considered that the executor is still liable to account for the amount of his own debt. 11 Ves. Ch. 90, nn. 1, 2, 3; 13 id. 262, 264. Where one appoints his creditor executor, and he has assets, it operates to discharge the debt, but not otherwise. 2 Williams, Exec. 4th Am. ed. 1118-1123. See, gene rally, Toller, Williams, on Executors, Roper on Legacies, Jarman on Wills. LEGAL. That which is according to law. It is used in opposition to equitable: as, the legal estate is in the trustee, the equitable estate in the cestui que trust. But see Powell, Mortg. Index. LEGAL ASSETS. Such property of a testator in the hands of his executor as is liable to debts in temporal courts and to legacies in the spiritual by course of law; equitable assets are such as are liable only by help of a court of equity. 2 Williams, Exec. 14081431, Amer. notes. No such distinction exists in Pennsylvania. 1 Ashm. Penn. 347. See Story, Eq. Jur. 551; 2 Jarman, Wills, 543. LEGAL ESTATE. One the right to which may be enforced in a court of law. It is distinguished from an equitable estate, the right to which can be established only in a court of equity. 2 Bouvier, Inst. n. 1688. The party who has the legal title has alone the right to seek a remedy for a wrong to his estate, in a court of law, though he may have no beneficial interest in it. The equitable owner is he who has not the legal estate, but is entitled to the beneficial interest. The person who holds the legal estate for the benefit of another is called a trustee; he who has the beneficiary interest and does not hold the legal the cestui que trust. title is called the beneficiary, or, more technically, When the trustee has a claim, he must enforce his right in a court of equity, for he cannot sue any one at law in his own name, 1 East, 497; 8 Term, 332; 1 Saund. 158, n. 1; 2 Bingh. 20; still less 1 East, can he in such court sue his own trustee. 497. By legalization is also understood the act by which a judge or competent officer authenticates a record, or other matter, in order that the same may be lawfully read in evidence. LEGAL TENDER. That currency which has been made suitable by law for the purposes of a tender in the payment of debts. The following descriptions of currency are legal tender in the United States: All the gold coins of the United States, according to their nominal value, for all sums whatever. The silver dollar of the United States is a legal tender for all sums whatever. The silver coins below the denomination of the dollar, coined prior to 1854, are a legal tender in payment of any sum whatever. The silver coins below the dollar, of the date of 1854 and of subsequent years, are a legal tender in sums not exceeding five dollars. The threecent silver coins of the date of 1851, 1852, and 1853 are a tender in sums not exceeding thirty cents. Those of subsequent dates are a tender in sums not exceeding five dollars. The cent is not a legal tender. The laws at one time in force making certain foreign coins a legal tender was repealed by the act of Feb. 21, 1857, 8 3 (Stat. at Large, vol. 11, p. 163). No foreign coins are now a legal tender. By recent legislation, treasury notes have been issued, which are a legal tender for all debts, public and private, except duties on inports and interest on the public debt. (Act of Congress of May 23, 1862.) A postage currency has also been authorized, which is receivable in payment of all dues to the United States less than five dollars. They are not, however, a legal tender in payment of private debts. (Act of Congress, approved July 17, 1862.) LEGALIS HOMO (Lat.). A person who stands rectus in curia, who possesses all his civil rights. A lawful man. One who stands rectus in curia, not outlawed nor infamous. In this sense are the words probi et legales homines. LEGANTINE CONSTITUTIONS. In English Law. Laws. Scriptæ. Leges scripta, written or statute laws. Leges non scripta, unwritten or customary laws; the common law, including general customs, or the common law properly so called; and also particular customs of certain parts of the kingdom, and those particular laws that are, by custom, observed only in certain courts and jurisdictions. 1 Sharswood, Blackst. Comm. 67. "These parts of law are therefore styled leges non scriptæ, be cause their original institution and authority are not set down in writing, as acts of parliament are, but they receive their binding power and the force of laws by long and immemorial usage." 1 Stephen, Comm. 40, 66. It is not to be understood, however, that they are merely oral; for they have come down to The name of a code of ecclesiastical laws, en-us in reports and treatises. LEGISLATIVE POWER. The au LEGATARY. One to whom any thing is bequeathed; a legatee. This word is sometimes, though seldom, used to designate a legate or nuncio. LEGATEE. The person to whom a legacy is given. See LEGACY. LEGATES. Legates are extraordinary ambassadors sent by the pope to catholic countries to represent him and to exercise his jurisdiction. They are distinguished from the ambassadors of the pope who are sent to other powers. Legates à latere hold the first rank among those who are honored by a legation; they are always chosen from the college of cardinals, and are called à latere, in imitation of the magistrates of ancient Rome, who were taken from the court, or side of the emperor. Legati missi are simple envoys. Legati nati are those who are entitled to be legates by birth. See A LATERE. LEGATION. An embassy; a mission. All persons attached to a foreign legation, lawfully acknowledged by the government of this country, whether they are ambassadors, envoys, ministers, or attachés, are protected by the act of April 30, 1790, 1 Story, U. S. Laws, 83, from violence, arrest, or molestation. 1 Dall. Penn. 117; 1 Wash. C. C. 232; 2 id. 435; 4 id. 531; 11 Wheat. 467; 1 Miles, Penn. 366; 1 Nott & M'C. So. C. 217; 1 Baldw. 240; Wheaton, Int. Law, 167. See AMBASSADOR; ARREST; PRIVILEGE. LEGATORY. The third part of a freeman's personal estate, which by the custom of London, in case he had a wife and children, the freeman might always have disposed of by will. Bacon, Abr. Customs of London (D4). LEGES (Lat.). In Civil Law. Laws proposed by a magistrate of the senate and adopted by the whole people in comitia centuriata. See POPULISCITUM; LEX. thority, under the constitution, to make laws, and to alter or repeal them. LEGISLATOR. One who makes laws. In order to make good laws, it is necessary to understand those which are in force; the legislator ought, therefore, to be thoroughly imbued with a knowledge of the laws of his country, their advantages and defects; to legislate without this previous knowledge is to attempt to make a beautiful piece of machinery with one's eye shut. There is unfortunately too strong a propensity to multiply our laws and to change them. Laws must be yearly made, for the legislatures meet yearly, but whether they are always for the better may be well questioned. A mutable legislation is always attended with evil. It renders the law uncertain, weakens its effects, hurts credit, lessens the value of property, and, as they are made frequently, in consequence of some extraordinary case, laws sometimes operate very unequally. See 1 Kent, Comm. 227; and Le Magasin Universel, tome ii. p. 227, for a good article against excessive legislation. LEGISLATURE. That body of men in the state which has the power of making laws. art. 1, 1, all legislative powers granted by By the constitution of the United States, it are vested in a congress of the United States, which shall consist of a senate and house of representatives. It requires the consent of a majority of each branch of the legislature in order to enact a law, and then it must be approved by the president of the United States, or, in case of his refusal, by two-thirds of each house. U. S. Const. art. 1, § 7, 2. Most of the constitutions of the several states contain provisions nearly similar to this. In general, the legislature will not, and, by the constitutions of some of the states, cannot, exercise judicial functions: yet the use of such power upon particular occasions is not without example. LEGITIM (called, otherwise, Bairn's Part of Gear). In Scotch Law. The legal share of father's free movable property, due on his death to his children: if widow and children are left, it is one-third; if children alone, one-half. Erskine, Inst. 3. 9. 20; 4 Bell, Hou. L. Cas. 296. LEGITIMACY. The state of being born in wedlock; that is, in a lawful manner. 2. Marriage is considered by all civilized nations as the only source of legitimacy; the qualities of husband and wife must be possessed by the parents in order to make the offspring legitimate; and, furthermore, the marriage must be lawful, for if it is void ab initio, the children who may be the offspring of such marriage are not legitimate. 1 Phillipps, Ev.; La. Civ. Code, art. 203 to 216. In Virginia, it is provided, by statute of 1787, "that the issue of marriages deemed null in law shall nevertheless be legitimate." 3 Hen. & M. Va. 228, n. 3. A strong presumption of legitimacy arises from marriage and cohabitation; and proof of the mother's irregularities will not destroy this presumption: pater est quem nuptia demonstrant. To rebut this presumption, circumstances must be shown which render it impossible that the husband should be the father, as impotency and the like. 3 Bouvier, Inst. n. 3062. See BASTARD. LEGITIMATE. That which is according to law: as, legitimate children are lawful children, born in wedlock, in contradistinction to bastards; legitimate authority, or lawful power, in opposition to usurpation LEGITIMATION. The act of giving the character of legitimate children to those who were not so born. 2. In Louisiana, the Civil Code, art. 217, enacts that "children born out of marriage, except those who are born of an incestuous or adulterous connection, may be legitimated by the subsequent marriage of their father and mother, whenever the latter have legally acknowledged them for their children, either before their marriage, or by the contract of marriage itself." 3. In most of the other states, the character of legitimate children is given to those who are not so, by special acts of assembly. In Georgia, real estate may descend from a mother to her illegitimate children and their representatives, and from such child, for want of descendants, to brothers and sisters, born of the same mother, and their representatives. Prince's Dig. 202. In Alabama, Kentucky, Mississippi, Vermont, and Virginia, subsequent marriages of parents, and recognition by the father, legitimatize an illegitimate child; and the law is the same in Massachusetts, for all purposes except inheriting from their kindred. Mass. Rev. Stat. 414. 4. The subsequent marriage of parents legitimatizes the child in Illinois; but he must be afterwards acknowledged. The same rule seems to have been adopted in Indiana and Missouri. An acknowledgment of illegitimate children, of itself, legitimatizes in Ohio; and in Michigan and Mississippi, marriage alone between the reputed parents has the same effect. In Maine, a bastard inherits to one who is legally adjudged, or in writing owns himself to be, the father. A bastard may be legitimated in North Carolina, on ap plication of the putative father to court, either where he has married the mother, or she is dead, or married another, or lives out of the state. In a number of the states, namely, in Alabama, Connecticut, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, North Carolina, Ohio, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Vermont, and Virginia, a bastard takes by descent from his mother, with modifications regulated by the laws of these states. 2 Hill, Abr. 24-35, and authorities cited. See DESCENT. LEGITIME. In Civil Law. That portion of a parent's estate of which he cannot disinherit his children without a legal cause. 2. The civil code of Louisiana declares that dona tions inter vivos or mortis causâ cannot exceed twothirds of the property of the disposer, if he leaves at his decease a legitimate child; one-half if he leaves two children; and one-third if he leaves three or a greater number. Under the name of children are included descendants of whatever deare only counted for the child they represent. La. gree they may be: it must be understood that they Civ. Code. art. 1480. In Holland, Germany, and Spain, the principles of the Falcidian law, more or less limited, have been generally adopted. Coop. Just. 516. 3. In the United States, other than Louisiana, and in England, there is no restriction on the right of bequeathing. But this power of bequeathing did not originally extend to all a man's personal estate: on the contrary, by the common law, as it stood in the reign of Henry II., a man's goods were to be divided into three equal parts, one of which went to his heirs or lineal descendants, another to his wife, and the third was at his own disposal; or, if he died without a wife, he might then dispose of one moiety, and the other went to his children; and so e converso if he had no children, the wife was entitled to one moiety, and he might bequeath the other; but if he died without either wife or issue, the whole was at his own disposal. Glanville, 1. 2, c. 5; Bracton, 1. 2, c. 26. The shares of the wife and children were called their reasonable part. 2 Blackstone, Comm. 491. See DEATH'S PART; FALCIDIAN LAW. LENDER. He from whom a thing is borrowed. The bailor of an article loaned. See BAILMENT; LOAN. LESION. In Civil Law. A term used to signify the injury suffered, in consequence of inequality of situation, by one who does not receive a full equivalent for what he gives in a commutative contract. The remedy given for this injury is founded on its being the effect of implied error or imposition; for in every commutative contract equivalents are supposed to be given and received. La. Code, 1854. Persons of full age, however, are not allowed in point of law to object to their agreements as being injurious, Pothier, unless the injury be excessive. Obl. p. 1, c. 1, s. 1, art. 3, & 4. But minors are admitted to restitution, not only against any excessive inequality, but against any inequality whatever. Pothier, Obl. p. 1, c. 1, s. 1, art. 3, 5; La. Code, art. 1858. FRAUD; GUARDIAN; SALE. See LESSEE. He to whom a lease is made. He who holds an estate by virtue of a lease. See LEASE. LESSOR. He who grants a lease. See to a certiorari issuing out of a superior court LEASE; LANDLORD AND TENANT. for the removal of a cause from an inferior. LESTAGE, LASTAGE (Sax. last, burden). A custom for carrying things in fairs and markets. Fleta, 1. 1, c. 47; Termes de la Ley. LETTER OF ATTORNEY. In Prac tice. A written instrument, by which one or more persons, called the constituents, authorize one or more other persons, called the LET. Hindrance; obstacle; obstruction. attorneys, to do some lawful act by the latter To lease; to grant the use and possession of for or instead, and in the place, of the former. a thing for compensation. It is the correla-1 Mood. Cr. Cas. 52, 70. It may be parol or under seal. See POWER OF ATTORNEY. tive of hire. See HIRE. LETTER. He who, being the owner of a thing, lets it out to another for hire or compensation, Story, Bailm. 369. See HIRING. LETTER. An epistle; a despatch; a written message, usually on paper, folded up and sealed, and sent by one person to another. 1 Caines, N. Y. 582. 2. The business of transporting and delivering letters between different towns, states, and countries, and from one part of a city to another, is undertaken by the government, and private persons are forbidden to enter into competition. In the United States the various acts relating to the post-office were reduced to one act in 1825, 3 Story, U. S. Laws, 1991, Brightly, Dig. 759, by which severe penalties are inflicted upon all persons who interfere with the rapid transportation of the mails, upon all officers who tamper with the mails, as by opening letters, secreting the contents, etc., and competition of private individuals prevented. LETTER BOOK. In Common Law. A book containing the copies of letters written by a merchant or trader to his correspondents. letter which he admitted to have received After notice to the plaintiff to produce a from the defendant, it was held that an entry by a deceased clerk, in a letter book professing to be a copy of a letter from the defendant to the plaintiff of the same date, was admissible evidence of the contents, proof having been given that, according to the course of business, letters of business written by the plaintiff were copied by this clerk and then sent off by the post. 3 Campb. 305. See 1 Starkie, Ev. 356; Bouvier, Inst. n. 3139. LETTER CARRIER. A person employed to carry letters from the post-office to the persons to whom they are addressed. Provisions are made by the act of March 3, 1851, 11 U. S. Stat. at Large, 591, for the pointment of letter carriers in cities and towns, and by c. 21, 2 of the same act, for letter carriers in Oregon and California. ap 3. Contracts may be made by letter; and when a proposition is made by letter, the mailing a letter containing an acceptance of the proposition completes the contract. 1 Barnew. & Ald. 681; 6 Hare, 1; 1 Hou, L. dressed by the sovereign or chief magistrate Cas. 381; 7 Mees. & W. Exch. 515; 21 N. H. of a state to the sovereign or state to whom 41; 4 Paige, Ch. N. Y. 17; 11 N. Y. 441; 4 a public minister is sent, certifying his apGa. 1; 12 Conn. 431; 7 Dan. Ky. 281; 9pointment as such, and the general object of Port. Ala. 605; 5 Penn. St. 339; 9 How. 390; and credit may be given to what he shall do his mission, and requesting that full faith 4 Wheat. 228. See 1 Pick. Mass. 281; Par- and say on the part of his court. sons, Mar. Law, 22, n. LETTER OF CREDENCE. In International Law. A written instrument ad Payments may be made by letter at the risk of the creditor, when the debtor is authorized, expressly or impliedly, from the usual course of business, and not otherwise. Peake, 67; 1 Exch. 477; Ry. & M. 149; 3 Mass. 249. LETTER OF ADVICE. In Common Law. A letter containing information of any circumstances unknown to the person to whom it is written; generally informing him of some act done by the writer of the letter. It is usual and perfectly proper for the drawer of a bill of exchange to write a letter of advice to the drawee, as well to prevent fraud or alteration of the bill, as to let the drawee know what provision has been made for the payment of the bill. Chitty, Bills, 185. LETTER OF ADVOCATION. In Scotch Law. The decree or warrant of the supreme court or court of sessions, discharging the inferior tribunal from all further proceedings in the matter, and advocating the action to itself. This proceeding is similar When it is given to an ambassador, envoy, or minister accredited to a sovereign, it is addressed to the sovereign or state to whom the minister is delegated; in the case of a chargé d'affaires, it is addressed by the secretary or minister of state charged with the department of foreign affairs to the minister of foreign affairs of the other government. Wheaton, Int. Law, pt. 3, c. 1, 87; Wicquefort, de l'Ambassadeur, 1. 1, § 15. LETTER OF CREDIT. An open or sealed letter, from a merchant in one place, directed to another, in another place or country, requiring him that if a person therein named, or the bearer of the letter, shall have occasion to buy commodities, or to want money to any particular or unlimited amount, either to procure the same, or to pass his promise, bill, or other engagement for it, the writer of the letter undertaking to provide him the money for the goods, or to repay him by exchange, or to give him such satisfaction as he shall require, either for himself or the bearer of the letter. 3 Chitty, Com. Law, |