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Jointly with his wife 6i- children to his own ufe (or fiich 

 interell therein as he may lawfully part with), or purchaftd 

 with any other perfon upon ftcrct truft for his own ufe ; and 

 to caufc them to be appraifcd to thtir full value, and to 

 fell the fame by deed indented and enrolled, or divide them 

 proportionably among the creditoi-s. This ilatute exprefsly 

 included not only free, but cuftomary and copyhold, lands : 

 and the lord of the manor is tiiereby bound to admit the 

 afiignee (Cro. Car. 568. i Atk. 96.): but did not extend 

 to ellates-tail, farther than for the bankrupt's life ; nor to 

 equities of redemption on a mortgaged tftate, wherein the 

 bankrupt has no legal interell, but only an equitable re- 

 verfion. Wlicreupon the ftatutc 11 Jac. I. c. 19. enadls, 

 that the commiffioners fliall be empowered to fell or convey, 

 by deed indented and enrolled, any lands or tenements of 

 the bankrupt, wherein he fhall be feifed of an cllate-tail 

 in potTcnion, remaiudlr, or rtverfion, iinltfs the remainder 

 or reverfion thereof fliall be in the crown; and that fiich 

 fale fliall be good againll all fuch ifl"uc3 in tail, remainder- 

 men, and reverfioncrs, whom the bankrupt himfclf might have 

 barred by a common recovery, or otlier means: and that all 

 equities of redemption upon mortgaged eftates, rtiall be at 

 the difpofal of the commilUoners ; for they fhall have power 

 to redeem the fame, as the bankrupt himfclf might have 

 done, and after redemption to fell them. And tlie com- 

 miffioners may fell a copyhold entailed by cuftom. (Stone 127. 

 Bilhng 148.) And alfo, by this and a former aft, all 

 fradulent conveyances to deteat the intent ot thefe ilatutes 

 are declared void ; but that no purchafcr bona Jiilc, for a 

 good or valuable confideration, fhall be affefted by the 

 bankrupt laws, unlefs the commiffion be fued forth within five 

 years after the aft of bankruptcy committed, i Jac. I. c. 15. 



By virtue of thefe ilatutes a bankrupt may lofe all his 

 real eftates ; which may at once be transferred by his 

 commiflioners to their affignees, without his participation or 

 confent. See Assignees. 



The property vefted in the affignees is the whole that 

 the bankrupt had in himfelf, at the time he committed the 

 firft aft of bankruptcy, or that has been veiled in him fince, 

 before his debts are fatlsfied or agreed for. And therefore, 

 if a commiilioh is afterwards awarded, the commilTion and 

 the property of the affignees fliall have a relation, or refe- 

 rence, back to the firll and liriginal aft of bankruptcy. 

 Infomuch thatall tranfaftions of the bankrupt are from that 

 time abfoiutely null and void, either with regard to tlie 

 alienation of his property, or the receipt of his debts from 

 fuch as are privy to his banlcrnptcy ; for they are no 

 longer his property or his debts, but thofe of the future 

 affignees. If a banker pay the draft of a trader keeping 

 caflj with him, after knowledge of an aft of bankruptcy, 

 tke affignees may recover the money. (2 Term Rep. 113. 

 3 Bro. C. R. 313.) And if an execution be fued ont, but 

 ftot ferved and executed on the bankrupt's efTecls till after 

 the aft of bankruptcy, it is void as againft the afiignees. 

 But tlic king is not bound by this fiftitious relation, nor 

 is within the ilatutes of bankrupts ; for if, after the aft of 

 bankruptcy committed and before the affignment of his 

 cffefts, an extent iffues for the debt of the crown, the goods 

 are bound thereby. As thefe afts of bankruptcy may 

 fometimes be fecret to all but a few, and it would be pre- 

 judicial to trade to can-)' this notion to its utmoil length, 

 it is provided by ttatute 19 Geo. II. c. 32. that no money 

 paid by a bankrupt to a bona fide or real creditor, in a 

 courfe of trade, even after an aft of bankruptcy done, fliall 

 be liable to be refunded. Nor, by ftatute i Jac, I. c. 1 y. 

 fliall any debtor of a bankrupt, that pays him his debt, 



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witliout knowing of his bankruptcy, be liable to account 

 for it ao-ain. The intention of thia relative power being 

 only to reach fraudulent tranfaftions, and not to dillrcfs 

 the fair trader. 



Sale of goods by a bankrupt, after an aft of bankruptcy, 

 is not merely void ; the contraft is good between the par- 

 ties ; but it may be avoided by the commifTioners or affignees 

 at pleafure ; fo that they may either bring trover for the 

 goods, as fuppofuig the contraft may be void, or may bring 

 debt or affumpfit for tlie value, which affirms the contraft. 

 (3Salk. 59. pi. 2. 2T.R. 143. 4T.R. 216,7.) And fo if a 

 bankrupt on the eve of bankruptcy fraudulently deliver goods 

 to a creditor. (4 Term. Rep. 211.) The affignees after four, 

 and within twelve months after the commiffion ifTueJ, muft 

 give twenty-one days notice to the creditors of a meeting 

 for a dividend ; at which time they mull produce their 

 accounts, and verify them upon oath, if required. And then 

 the commiffioners fliall direft a dividend to be made, at fo 

 much in the pound, to all creditors who have before proved, 

 or Ihall then prove, their debts. Tliis dividend mull be 

 made equally, and in a rateable proportion, to all the cre- 

 ditors, according to the quantity of their debts ; no regard 

 being had to the quality of them. Mortgages indeed, for 

 vyhich the creditor has a real fecurity in his own hands, are 

 entirely fafe; for the commiffion of bankrupt reaches only the 

 equity of redemption. So are alfo perfonal debts, where the 

 creditor has a chattel in his hands, as a pledge or pawn for 

 the payment, or has taken the debtor's lands or goods in 

 execution. And, upon the equity of the Ilatute 8 Ann. 

 c. 14. (which direfts, that, upon all executions of goods 

 being on any premifcs demifcd to a tenant, one year's rent 

 and no more fliall, if due, be paid to the landlord) it hath, 

 alfo been held, that under a commiffion of bankrupt, which- 

 is in the nature of a llatute-execution, the landlord fhall be 

 allowed his arrears of rent to the fame amount, in preference 

 to other creditors, even though he hath neglefted to dillrain, 

 while the goods remained on the premifes : which he is 

 otherwife entitled to do for his entire rent, be the quantum 

 what it may. But, otherwife, judgments and recognizances 

 (both which are debts of record, and therefore at other times 

 have a priority), and alfo bonds and obligations by deed or 

 fpccial inflrument (wiiich are called debts by fpecialty, and 

 are ufually the next in order), thefe are all put on a level 

 with debts by mere limple contraft, and all paid pari pajfu. 

 Nay, fo far is this matter carried, that, by the expreis pro- 

 vilion of the ftatutee, debts not due at the time of the 

 dividend made, as bonds or notes of hand payable at a future 

 day certain, fhall be proved and paid equally with the refti 

 allov/ing a difcount or drawback in proportion. And infur- 

 ances, and obligations upon bottomry or refprmclcntta, bona 

 fide made by the bankrupt, though forfeited after the 

 commiffion is awarded, fliall be looked upon in tlie fame 

 light as debts contrafted before any -aft of bankruptcy 

 Stat. 21 Jac. c. 19. yGeo. I.e. 31. 19 Geo. II. c. 32. 



Within eighteen months after the commiffion ifl'ued, a 

 fecond and final dividend (hall be made, unlefs all the effefts 

 were exhaufted by the firlt. And if any furplus remains, 

 after felling his efliates and paying every creditor his full 

 debt, it fhall be reftored to the bankrupt. This is a cafe 

 which fometimes happens to men in trade, who involunta- 

 rily, or at leaft unwarily, commit afts of bankruptcy, by 

 abfconding and the like, while their cffefts are more than 

 fufficient to pay tkeir creditors. And, if any fufpicions or 

 malevolent creditor will take the advantage of fuch afts, 

 and fue out a commiffion, the bankrupt has no remedy, 

 but mull quietly fubmit to the effefts of his own impru- 

 dence J 



