new promise

NEW PROMISE. A contract made, after the original promise has for some cause 
been rendered, invalid, by which the promiser agrees to fulfill such original

promise. 
     2. When a debtor has been discharged under the bankrupt laws, the 
remedy against him is clearly gone, so when an infant has made a contract 
prejudicial to his interest, he may avoid it; and when by lapse of time a 
debt is barred by the act of limitations, the debtor may take advantage of 
the act, but in all these cases there remains a moral obligation, and if the 
original promiser renews the contract by a new promise, this is a sufficient 
consideration. See 8 Mass. 127; 2 S. & It. 208; 2 Rawle, 351; 5 Har. & John. 
216; 2 Esp. C. 736; 2 H. Bl. 116; 8 Moore, 261; 1 Bing. 281; 1 Dougl. 192; 
Cowp. 544; Bac. Ab. Infancy and A e, I; Bac. Ab. Limitation of actions, E 85 
     3. Formerly the courts construed the slightest admission of the debtor 
as evidence of a new promise to pay; but of late years a more reasonable 
construction is put upon men's contracts, and the promise must be express, 
or at least, the acknowledgment of indebtedness must not be inconsistent 
with a promise to pay. 4 Greenl. 41, 413; 2 Hill's S. C. 326; 2 Pick. 368; 1 
South. 153; 14 S. & R. 195; 1 McMull. R. 197; 3 Harring. 508; 7 Watts & 
Serg. 180; 10 Watts, 172; 6 Watts & Serg. 213; 5 Shep. 349; 5 Smed. & Marsh. 
564; 1 Bouv. Inst. n. 866.