4 Rand. 253 | Va. Ct. App. | 1826
delivered his opinion.
The instrument, which is the foundation of this action, is a single bill under seal, by which F. V. Sutton promises to pay to W. Sutton, or order, six months after date, negotiable and payable at the Farmers’ Bank of Virginia, the sum of $3000. There are several endorsers, and a joint action of debt is brought against the obligor and endorsers. A demurrer to the declaration was put in, and sustained by the Court below. The simple question presented is, can this action be sustained ?
Upon general principles, there could not be the doubt of a moment. The contracts of the obligor, and the different endorsers, are several, distinct, and of different grades. The obligor has bound himself by a sealed instrument; the endorsers, by their hands merely. The defence cannot be the same.
But, we have an Act of Assembly, which authorises the holder of a foreign bill of exchange protested, to commence and prosecute an action of debt, for principal, damages, in