was made on time. This
would probably be brand-new knowledge to B, but he would know what to
do on the next occasion.

Is this true in all cases? It certainly is of all offers made in that
manner. How, then, can a person who makes an offer to another on time
be compelled to regard it? The way is simple enough. The person to
whom the offer is made should give something--a consideration--to A,
who makes the offer, for the delay. Then he would be bound by it. But
the courts would say to B, if nothing were given: "Why should A's
offer bind him so long as he is to get no compensation or
consideration for it?" And we shall see again and again in these
papers _this element of consideration is ever present, and must be to
make transactions legal_. So with respect to an offer on time--if the
person to whom it is made is really desirous of having it continue, in
order to find out whether he can raise the money to pay, or for some
reason, he can make the offer binding by giving to the offerer a
consideration for the specified time, whatever that may be.

VI. CONTRACTS BY CORRESPONDENCE

_A great many contracts are made by correspondence._ A person writes a
letter to another offering to sell him merchandise at a stated price.
The other replies saying that he will accept the offer. Is a contract
made at the time of writing his letter and putting it into the
post-office, or not until it is received by the person who made the
offer? The law in this country is that a contract is made between two
persons in that way as soon as the answer is written and put into the
post-office beyond the reach of the acceptor.

The post-office usually is the agent of the person who uses it, but
when a person sends an offer to another by mail the post-office is
regarded a little differently. It is the agent of the person who sends
the offer and also his agent in bringing back the reply. Consequently,
when this is put into the hands of the agent the law regards the
offerer as bound by his offer. In like manner, if a creditor should
send a letter to his debtor asking him to send a cheque for his debt
and he should comply, the post-office would be the agent of the
creditor in carrying that cheque, because he requested his debtor to
use this means in sending his cheque to him. But when a request is not
made and a debtor sends a cheque on his own account, the post-office
is his agent for carrying it to his creditor.

A person making an offer by lette