Nathan Clifford

“ Nothing less than knowledge of such transactions can meet the exigencies of such a defence, the rule being that the bona fide holder of a negotiable instrument for value, if acquired before maturity and without notice of any facts which impeach its validity between the antecedent parties, has a good title to the instrument, unaffected by any such prior transaction, and may recover the amount, even though the instrument, as between the antecedent parties, is without any legal validity. ”

“ Parol evidence of an agreement, made contemporaneously with a promissory note which contains an absolute promise to pay at a specified time, is not admissible in order to extend the time for payment, or to provide for the payment out of any particular fund, or in any other way than that specified in the instrument, or to make the payment depend upon condition. ”

“ That the court erred in instructing the jury that the agreement to receive as a compromise in discharge of the notes a sum less than the amount of the same could only be made available as a defence, by proving that the sum agreed was paid or tendered by the defendants as therein stipulated.
Exceptions not assigned for error will not be separately examined. Two of the errors assigned, to wit, the first and the second, are so nearly alike that they may be examined together. ”