An  acceptance  of  the  terms  by  the  person  to  whom  they
are  offered,  communicated  to  the  person  making  the  offer,  is
necessary  to  complete  the  contract.  An  offer  cannot  be  made
in  the  terms  that  an  acceptance  will  be  assumed  without  com-
munication. Where  a  letter  was  sent  offering  to  buy  a  horse,
and  stating  that  if  the  writer  received  no  answer  he  would
assume  that  his  offer  was  accepted,  to  which  no  answer  was
returned ;  it  was  held  that  there  was  no  contract  and  that  the
horse  might  be  sold  notwithstanding  the  offer ;  for  that  a
person  in  making  an  offer  to  another  has  no  right  "  to  put
upon  him  the  burden  of  the  choice  of  writing  a  letter  of
refusal  or  being  bound  by  the  agreement  proposed "  {m).
Where  a  letter  was  issued  by  a  company  to  the  shareholders
stating  that  new  shares  were  allotted  and  the  certificates
enclosed,  with  a  receipt  to  be  signed  and  returned,  it  was  held
that  a  shareholder  who  had  taken  no  notice  of  the  communi-
cation was  not  bound  to  accept  the  shares,  and  could  not  be
charged  as  a  shareholder  {n).
The  acceptance  must  be  absolute  and  unqualified ;  an
acceptance  which  leaves  any  term  open  to  future  negotiation
is  insufficient  (o)  :  as  an  acceptance  of  an  offer  to  buy  or  to
sell  an  estate,  "  subject  to  the  terms  of  a  contract  being
arranged"  by  a  solicitor  or  agent  {p) ;  or  the  acceptance  of  a


(i)  Piclering  v.  Douson,  4  Taunt.
779  ;  Kain  v.  Old,  2  B.  &  C.  627  ;
Freeman  v.  Baker,  5  B.  c&  Ad.  797.
{k)  James,  V.-C,  Mackenzie  v.
Couhon,  L.  R.  8  Eq.  368.
(l)  Seepoii,  p.  291.
(m)  FelthouseY.  Bindley,  11  C.  B.
