COMPOSITION
COMPOSITION, contracts. An agreement, made upon a sufficient consideration, between a debtor and creditor, by which the creditor accepts part of the debt due to him in satisfaction of the whole. Montagu on Compos. 1; 3 Co. 118; Co. Litt. 212, b; 4 Mod. 88; 1 Str. 426; 2 T. R. 24, 26; 2 Chit. R. 541, 564; 5 D. & R. 56 3 B. & C. 242; 1 R. & M. 188; 1 B. & A. 103, 440; 3 Moore's R. 11; 6 T. R. 263; 1 D. & R. 493; 2 Campb. R. 283; 2 M. & S. 120; 1 N. R. 124; Harr. Dig. Deed VIII.
2. In England, compositions were formerly allowed for crimes and misdemeanors, even for murder. But these compositions are no longer allowed, and even a qui tam action cannot be lawfully compounded. Bac. Ab. Actions qui tam, See 2 John. 405; 9 John. 251; 10 John. 118; 11 John. 474; 6 N. H.-Rep. 200.