Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume VIII.djvu/300

 286 GUAKATINGUETA proceeding), the creditor delay the demand and all proceedings so long and so stubbornly aa to indicate great negligence if not fraud, and the guarantor can show that by such delay he has lost the means of indemnifying himself, the guarantor is now discharged, at least to the extent of the injury which he can show that he thus received. Nor is a creditor prohibited from giving to his debtor all indulgence what- ever. He certainly may favor him in some respects without discharging the guarantor. After some fluctuation the law seems to have settled down upon the following rule : Mere forbearance of the debt, without fraud, does not discharge the guarantor ; nor does an agreement to forbear, provided this is not so binding on the creditor as to prevent his suing the debtor at any time. That is, the creditor must retain the power of putting the debt in suit at any time ; but if he retain this power, any forbearance consistent therewith does not discharge the guarantor. The reason is, that the guarantor has the right of paying the debt at any time after it is due, and so acquiring the right of suing it at once ; and if the creditor destroys this right by putting the debt in such a condition that it cannot be sued at once, he deprives the guarantor of a valuable right, and so loses his hold upon him. Reasonable notice should also be given to the guarantor of the failure of the debtor, so that he may have all proper opportunity of obtaining indemnity. But what this reasonable notice should be is not quite settled. There is no time fixed, as in the case of indorsed paper, within which the no- tice of non-payment must be given ; and per- haps the rule may be stated that no mere de- lay of notice would discharge the guarantor, unless he can show that he has suffered injury by such delay. But if he can show that if he had received this notice within a day or two from the time when the debt was unpaid, he might then have secured himself, and has now lost the opportunity, even that delay might suffice to discharge him. Guaranties are some- times given by one expressly in an official ca- pacity as trustee, church warden, executor, assignee, and the like. But the guarantor is still held personally on this guaranty, unless, 1, he holds that office, and 2, has a right by virtue of the office to give the guaranty in his official capacity. Every guaranty may, in gen- eral, be revoked at the pleasure of the guaran- tor, by giving due notice to the party guaran- tied, unless, 1, the guaranty is given upon some continuing consideration which is not yet exhausted, and cannot be restored or rescinded ; or, 2, upon some specific transaction, which is not yet wholly completed ; or, 3, the guaranty is against the misconduct of some servant or officer, whom the guarantee cannot at once dismiss, or secure himself against by other means, if the guaranty be rescinded. GIARATINGIETA, a town of Brazil, in the pruvinoo of Sao Paulo, on the right bank of the Rio Parahyba, 120 m. W. of Rio de Ja- GUARDIAN neiro; pop. about 7,600. The streets are reg- ular, but narrow, and the houses built of adobe. It has a church and three chapels; one of the latter, outside the town, is visit- ed by numbers of pilgrims. The surrounding country is fertile, and sugar, coffee, and to- bacco are cultivated, and, with fat cattle and swine, are sent in considerable quantities to Rio de Janeiro and to Sao Paulo. GUARD, National, a system of militia instituted in France in 1789. The court had concentra- ted at the gates of the capital an army of 30,- 000 regular troops. To counteract this demon- stration, the citizens demanded arms, and on July 13 a municipal council decreed the for- mation of a militia of 60 battalions numbering 48,000 men. White, the color of the royal standard, was united with the blue and red colors of the city of Paris to form the color of this revolutionary force, afterward so famous as the tricolor. The other cities of France promptly followed the example, and the insti- tution took the name of national guard. In 1795 the national guard of Paris, to the num- ber of 30,000, rose in arms against the conven- tion, Oct. 5, and attacked the Tuileries, but were repulsed and defeated by 6,000 regular troops commanded by Napoleon Bonaparte. The national guard was now placed under the authority of the commander-in-chief of the regu- lar army. During the revolution of July, 1830, the national guard was revived at Paris, and on July 30 Lafayette, who 40 years before had commanded the first national guard, was again made commander-in-chief. After the revolu- tion of 1848 the national guard was largely in- creased, and by a law of June 26, 1851, it was organized throughout France, and made to in- clude all citizens above the age of 20, except regular soldiers and persons employed in the service of the government. After the coup d'e- tat of Dec. 2, 1851, it was dissolved, and re- established by a decree dated Jan. 11, 1852, on a new and much restricted plan, reducing it to the condition of a mere armed police for the repression of tumults. During the Franco- German war the national guard was reorgan- ized. After the evacuation of Paris by the Germans and the ratification of peace by the national assembly, in the early part of 1871, the national guards still remained under arms. They refused to obey the orders of the govern- ment to disarm and disband, but seized a num- ber of guns, and occupied the batteries of Mont- martre and the quarters of Belleville and Vi- lette. After the overthrow of the commune, the national assembly voted the dissolution of the national guard throughout France. GUARDIAN, one who guards, or has the care and charge of another. Guardians in law are of many kinds. There are guardians of minor children, and of those incapacitated otherwise than by age from taking care of themselves. Guardians of infants (minors) were, at common law: 1. Guardians by nature. In exact and technical construction, by this term is meant