An acknowledgment which under s. 18 of the Limitations Act will afford a new starting point for the period of limitation applicable to an action to recover arrears of interest must-be in writing and signed by the person by whom the interest was payable or his agent, and must be given to the person entitled thereto or his agent (e).

Upon a sale of land which was subject to mortgage the purchaser and the mortgagee enquired from the mortgagee the amount owing, and the mortgagee signed a memorandum, endorsed upon the mortgage, of the amount claimed by him. The conveyance to the purchaser was made subject to the mortgage, upon which there was stated to be owing the amount claimed, the payment of which amount the plaintiff assumed. The conveyance was not executed by the purchaser. It was held that there was no sufficient acknowledgment, and that as against an encumbrancer claiming under the purchaser the mortgagee was entitled only to six years arrears of interest

(e) See Sec. 266, supra, where the text of the section is quoted. (f) Colquhoun v. Murray, 1899, 26 O.A.R. 204.

An acknowledgment is available only against the person giving it. Thus an acknowledgment given by the mortgagor will not enable the mortgagee to whom it was given to recover more than six years' arrears of interest as against a second mortgagee whose mortgage was in existence at the time of the acknowledgment (g). An acknowledgment by one of two executors and devisees in trust of real estate, against the wishes of the other, that more than six years' arrears of interest are due on a mortgage created by their testator cannot be treated as the valid act of the two in their capacities as trustees, and is not a sufficient acknowledgment under the statute (h). Under ss. 20 and 24, applicable to actions for redemption (i) and for the recovery of money out of land (j) respectively, the running of the statute will be interrupted if an acknowledgment is given "in the meantime," that is before the expiration of the period of limitation. No similar words occur in s. 18, and it would seem that under this section an acknowledgment given more than six years after the interest falls due would be sufficient in point of time, provided it is given before an action to recover the principal or for foreclosure, sale or possession is barred.