Page:Joseph Story, Commentaries on the Constitution of the United States (1st ed, 1833, vol III).djvu/209

charge an indorser, upon the dishonour of the bill, as a private holder would be.^[1] In like manner, when a bond is entered into by a surety for the faithful discharge of the duties of an office by his principal, the nature and extent of the obligation, created by the instrument, are constantly ascertained by reference to the common law; though the bond is given to the government in its sovereign capacity.^[2]

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1. United States v. Barker, 12 Wheat. R. 559.
2. See, among other cases, United States v. Kirkpatrick, 9 Wheat. R. 720; Farrar v. United States, 5 Peters's R. 373; Smith v. United States, 5 Peters's R. 294; United States v. Tingey, 5 Peters's R. 115; United States v. Buford, 3 Peters's R. 12, 30.

vol. iii.26