190 SALMON v. CLAGETT.—3 BLAND.

ble sanctity; and according to our fundamental law, there is no
power in the land by which the obligation of such contracts can be,
in any manner, lessened or impaired. Here, and as to this point,
it is not pretended, that the mortgage itself has been, or can be, in
any way, stripped of a single atom of its own proper, legal or equita-
ble, obligatory force. But these defendants, who stand here as
sureties, referring to that implied contract, the incident of the mort-
gage, to the full benefit of which they are entitled; urge, that its
obligation has been materially impaired to their prejudice; and
therefore, that they are discharged. They allege that its obligation
has been altered, diminished, or destroyed by the circumstance of
Salmon having increased their peril by giving to Thomas Clagett
credit for an amount greater than that specified in the deed; and
by having, by an express agreement with Thomas Clagett, after the
debt became due, enlarged the time of payment; and also by his
having released a security he iiad procured, by means of which he
might, for aught that appears, have obtained a complete satisfac-
tion of his debt.

On behalf of the sureties of Thomas Clagett, it was contended,
that their guaranty of indemnity was, in all respects, a limited one,
by which they not only intended that they themselves should not
be responsible beyond a specified amount; but that Thomas Cla-
gett should not be credited for more than that amount by Salmon;
because by so involving him beyond the specified sum, his situa-
tion * would be rendered more precarious, and they would
175 thereby become more likely to be damnified.

If that was the intention of these sureties, they certainly have
not so distinctly expressed themselves by this mortgage. That
deed evidently purports to be a continuing guaranty, not merely
until the sureties should think proper to put an end to it, by giving
notice to Salmon, that it should be no longer continued; but its
duration forms an express part of the contract itself; it was to en-
dure until the 1st of October, 1830, and no longer. And it was
not to exceed in amount the sum of $10,000; thus limiting the
extent of the liability of the sureties without making the slightest
allusion to the extent of the credit which Thomas Clagett might
obtain from Salmon or any one else; or to the scope of his busi-
ness; or to the perils and risks in which he might be involved by
the wide range of his commercial concerns. The sense and
substance of this mortgage, considered as a guaranty, comes to
this, that these sureties thereby nndertake to sustain the credit of
Thomas Clagett to an amount not exceeding $10,000, continually
from that time until the 1st of October, 1830. It is, therefore, of
no importance as regards this mortgage, what may be the amount
of the debt due from Thomas Clagett to Salmon beyond that sum;
since the mortgage covers no more than $10,000; nor is it of any
consequence when, within the specified period of time, the credit