THIS case was brought up by writ of error from the Circuit Court of the United States for the district of Indiana.
It was an action brought by the bank upon two bills of exchange, one dated on the 18th of August, 1857, at Pittsburgh, drawn by L. O. Reynolds & Son upon J. S. & R. E. Neal, at Madison, Indiana, requesting them to pay, four months after date of this second of exchange, (first unpaid,) to the order of L. O. Reynolds, at the Ohio Life Insurance and Trust Company, at Cincinnati, in the State of Ohio, two thousand one hundred and sixty-eight dollars. Reynolds endorsed this bill to L. Wilmarth & Co., who endorsed it to the bank. The bill was accepted by J. S. & R. E. Neal.
The other bill sued upon was similar in all its circumstances, except that it was dated on the 1st of August, 1857, payable four months after the date of this second of exchange, (first unpaid,) for thirteen hundred and fifty dollars. It was endorsed and accepted like the other.
In order to present a distinet view of the transactions which led to this suit and the nature of the defence, it seems necessary to state particularly all the bills mentioned in the proceedings, designating each bill by a letter, which is the reporter's mark, and used for easy reference.
In June, 1857, J. S. & R. E. Neal, residents of Madison, Indiana, for the purpose of raising money, delivered to L. O. Reynolds, of Pittsburgh, the four following bills, viz: