"offering the reward of $500 for the apprehension and conviction of persons setting fire to buildings in the city, was issued almost four years before the time at which the plaintiff arrested Marriott and prosecuted him to conviction." The opinion of the court reads: "three years and eight months is not a reasonable time within which, or rather to the extent of which, the offer in question can be considered as a continuing offer on the part of the city. In that length of time, the exigency under which it was made having passed, it must be presumed to have been forgotten by most of the officers and citizens of the community, and cannot be presumed to have been before the public as an actuating motive to vigilance and exertion on this subject; nor could it justly and reasonably have been so understood by the plaintiff. We are, therefore, of the opinion that the offer of the city had ceased before the plaintiff accepted and acted upon it as such, and that consequently no contract existed upon which this action, founded on an alleged express promise, can be maintained."

BOTH PARTIES MUST BE BOUND OR NEITHER.—Both parties to a simple contract must in effect be bound, and until they are, there is no contract. In a unilateral contract, before the promise becomes binding, the promisee must have actually performed what he was requested to do, that is, he must bind himself by actual performance before the offerer's promise is binding on him. In a bilateral contract, where each party makes a promise, neither promise can be binding unless and until the other one is. So that in the case of the proposed agreement to lease, as the proposed tenant might refuse to take the house if the dining-room was not papered, the proposed landlord has a similar right; that is, since one is not bound, the other is not.

CONTRACTS BY CORRESPONDENCE.—Contracts are often made by correspondence, simple contracts especially. That raises rather an important question as to how and when the contract is formed. Suppose a letter containing an offer is addressed from Boston to a man in New York. A reply is sent by him from New York accepting the offer. That reply goes astray. Is there a contract? Yes. It creates a contract by correspondence for a letter to be mailed by the acceptor provided the offerer imposes no conditions to the contrary, and impliedly authorizes the use of the mails, as he does by himself making an offer by mail. But suppose the offerer in his letter says, "If I hear from you by next Wednesday I shall consider this a contract." Then, unless the offerer receives an answer by the next Wednesday, there will be no contract. It will make no difference that an answer has been mailed, it must have been received; that is a condition of the offer. Suppose an offer is made by word of mouth, and it is accepted by sending a letter. Does the contract then become binding, irrespective of receipt of the letter? No, unless in some way the offerer has authorized the use of the mails in sending such an answer, and if the circumstances were such that the use of the mails would be customary, that would amount to an implied authorization. The use of the telegraph depends upon similar principles. If an offer is sent by telegraph, an answer may be sent by telegraph, and an acceptance started on its way will become binding although it is never received. Similarly, one may authorize a telegraphic answer to a letter containing an offer sent by mail, and if the use of the telegraph is authorized, a contract will arise at the moment that the telegram is sent.