19 La. 478 | La. | 1841
delivered the'opinion of the court.
This case has been argued, in writing and not without some-'ingenuity on both sides,1 It is urged on the part of the defendant and, appellee that if' the mortgage assigned to plaintiff •and under which he claims was given to Drake & Canfield to secure them from the consequences of their endorsements on 'the notes, as is alleged in the plaintiff’s petition, the mortgage was a nullity. That it could háve no binding force and effect because Stiles was not indebted to them at the time it was given; as the notes had been by them transferred to the plaintiff nearly a year previous to its date ; and that it is essential to the existence of a mortgage that there should be a principal debt to serve as a foundation for it. That when a bill or note is endorsed after maturity, demand must be made within a reasonable time and notice given to the endorser who is otherwise discharged, and that as in this case the plaintiff took no ;step to fix the liability of Drake & Canfield, the mortgage, if it