23 Mo. 244 | Mo. | 1856
delivered the opinion of the court.
It is well settled in our equity law, and it seems, too, in the legal systems of other countries, that the surety is entitled to the benefit of all the securities for the debt taken by the creditor from the principal debtor, and is therefore discharged from liability to the extent to which the creditor has parted with these securities ; and this is agreeable to natural equity. (1 Story’s Eq. § 327, et seq.) Accordingly, in a case like the present, (Calvert v. The London Dock Company, 2 Keen’s Rep. 639,) where a contractor undertook to perform certain work, and it was agreed that three-fourths of the work, as furnished should be paid for every two months, and the remaining fourth upon the completion of the work, the Master of the Rolls, Lord Langdale, decided that the sureties for the due per