bankruptcy 
courts. Laws having similar objccta, hut less ellieacion.s 
in respect of discharging the debtor, are maintained by 
many uf the States, but can operate to give a discharge 
irrespective of creditors' assent only when then- is no fed- 
eral bankruptcy law. TiieM an termed i,i*"lr<',<r hnt'H. Ill 
England bankruptcy laws have existed from tin; time ot 
Henry VIII. The principal acts are: 34 and .*> Hm. VIII., 
c. 4, directed against fraudulent debtors, ami empowering 
the lord chancellor and other high oinccrs to seize their 
estates and divide them among the creditors ; in KM/., e. 
7, restricting bankruptcy to traders, and prescribing cer- 
tain acts by committing which a trader became a bank- 
rupt; 4 Aime, 0.17, and 10 Aune, e. lf>, removing the crim- 
inal character borne hv baiikruptev prooeedlngl up to that 
time, and permitting; a debtor to obtain a certillcate of 
having conformed to the reaninmaati of the bankrupt 
law; Ueo. IV., c. Hi, allowing a debtor to procure lii.- 
own bankruptcy, and introducing the principle of private 
si ttlcmelits between debtors and creditors; 1 and '1 Win. 
IV., c. 5ti, establishing a court of bankruptcy, conMsting oi 
six commissioners along with four judges, iis a court of re 
view and making provision for official assignees. By the 
Bankrupt Consolidation Act of IS4'.>, proceedings might he 
begun by petition to the Court of llankruptey, and 
44H 
f ,. ndtheeom 
missiouers were authorized to award cei -tillcates according 
to the merit of the bankruptcy. The 
1801(24 and 'ii Viet., c. 134) aluilishcd special 
bankruptcy act < 
1 legislation 
Flowering b 
f Banksia trici/ttlia. 
relating to insolvent debtors, and permitted persons other 
than trailers to avail themselves of the relief afforded by 
the liankruptey court. In 1S01I (.'):> and :a Viet., e. 71) the 
cominissionersliips and official assignees were aliolished, o f t] ie shaft, who superintends the sorting and 
a new Court of Bankruptcy was established, and provision 
of its criminal jurisdiction, the criminal clauses being 
placed in another statute, the Debtors' Act, which abol- 
, , . 
hed imprisonment for debt except in certain cases. In joint-stock banks is divided into shares. 
883 (40 and 47 Viet, c. 52, taking effect Jan. 1, 1HK4) the bank-SWallOW (bangk'swol'6), ft. 
lyyy __ } ^ 
English bankruptcy acts were amended and consolidated. 
In the United States the subject has been, except during 
the periods of the operation of the United States bank 
ruptcy acts, left to the imperfect regulation of diverse 
State laws. Such a law in any particular State may, when 
there is no United States act conflicting, provide for the 
distribution of an insolvent's property, may dim-barge him 
from imprisonment for debt, and may discharge him, if a 
citizen of such State, from indebtedness to another citi- 
zen thereof contracted while such State law was in force, 
so far as to make the discharge a protection in the courts 
of the same State. The first United States bankrupt law, 
known as the act of 1800(2 Stat. at L., p. 19), was based 
on a consolidation of then existing English statutes, and 
was in force from June 2, 1800, till Dec. 19, 1803. The sec- 
ond, the act of 1841 (5 Stat. at L., p. 440), was in force 
from Feb. 1, 1842, till March 3, 1843. The third, the act 
of 1867 (14 Stat. at L, p. 517), repeatedly amended, and 
finally revised in the United States Revised Statutes, tit. 
LXI., and reenacted with modifications in 1874 (18 Stat. 
at L., p. 178), was in force from June 1, 1867, till Sept. 1, 
1878. In general, debts contracted by fraud, or in a 
fiduciary capacity, are not discharged by the bankruptcy 
laws. Commission of bankruptcy, a commission for- 
merly issued by the English lord chancellor, appointing 
and empowering certain persons to examine into the 
facts relative to an alleged bankruptcy, and to secure 
bank. In England the term is applied chiefly to the 
lock of the liankof England. The stock of other English 
^ _ Hiriiiiiln 
or Culiie ripurid, a very common bird of Eu- 
rope, Asia, 
and Ameri- 
ca, of the 
family Hi- 
rundinida: so 
called from 
its habit of 
burrowing in 
banks tobuild 
its nest. It is 
a small swal- 
low, mouse-gray 
above and white 
below, witli a 
gray collar. In 
places where it is 
numerous, hun- 
dreds or thou- 
sands gather to 
Bank-swallow (Calile rifaria). breed in com- 
pany, and a sand- 
bank may be riddled with their holes, which are exca- 
vated to the depth of a foot or more. Also called sand- 
the bankrupt's property for the creditors. Discharge ,.,,,,, and bank-Martin. See Cattle. 
in bankruptcy. see.//.,<v,, v /c. Flat in bankruptcy, bank-work (bangk'werk), . In coal-mining, 
-tavoiunty d ban^ a method of working coal in use in South 
the petition of creditors, showing cause why the bank- Yorkshire, England, and in some of the North 
rupt should not he allowed to continue in possession of \Velsh collieries, combining some of the pecu- 
jud^oWSffifS S&^die^rSM Hatities of the pillar system with those of the 
to surrender his assets and be discharged. =Syn. Inml- long-wall system. 
vency, etc. See failure. banky (bang'ki), a. [< bank>- + -y.\ Full of 
bankruptismt (bangk'rup-tizm), n. [< bank- banks or ridges ; ridgy ; hilly. [Bare.] 
rupt + -ism.] Bankruptcy. banlieue (ban'lu), n. [F. (in ML. banleuca, 
bankruptlyt (bangk'rupt-li), adv. Like a bank- banmtm leuca-), < ban, command, jurisdiction, 
rapt. + lieue, league, also an indefinite extent of ter- 
bankruptshipt (bangk'rupt-ship), n. [< bank- ritory. Cf. G. bann-meilc in same sense: see 
rupt + -ship.] Bankruptcy. ban* and /ear/we 2 .] The territory without the 
bankrupturet (bangk'rup-tur), n. [< bankrupt walls, but within the legal limits, of a town or 
+ -ure; after rupture.] Bankruptcy. city. Sometimes erroneously spelled banlieu, 
bankshall (bangk'shal), n. [Anglo-Ind., for- as M from French lieu, a, place, 
medy also !,a,L,ll, -sa,d, JoH, repr. Malay bannat (ban'at), n. Scotch form of bonnet. 
g. bankcal, bankacala, lit. hall of bannaH n. f See banat. 
oilier ui i mi' MM -iii;ir*Lci ur utiiri LV/I L HUMW- . m . . , , -,, - , e 
ity 2 In Java a large hall of audience in a P lece of cloth > attached to the upper part ot 
princely residence, without regular walls, but a pole or staff, which in former times served 
supported by wooden pillars. Yule and Burnett. the standard of a sovereign, lord, or knight, 
7SJ5 "fi==^'r- rf " "SSi , 
shrubs or trees, for the most part of small size, 
of the natural order Proteaceaf, natives of west- 
ern extra-tropical Australia and Tasmania, 
where with other shrubs of the same order they 
constitute most of the so-called "scrub." The 
foliage is hard and dry, and extremely variable in form, 
and the flowers form close cylindrical heads resembling 
liottle-brushes. Many species have been cultivated in 
European conservatories and gardens. 
Hang out our banners on the outward walls ; 
The cry is still, " They come ! " Our castle's strength 
Will laugh a siege to scorn. Shak., Macbeth, v. 0. 
2. In her., a square flag which in the middle 
ages was the ensign of a knight banneret. 
Instances are related of a knight companion being made 
a knight banneret on the field of battle, the mark of his 
promotion being the tearing off of the points of his pennon, 
leaving the flag square. In modern usage, any square Hag 
is termed a banner when it bears heraldic devices. The 
VianlramsTi fhmiirlra ' muni i, r.1 litinlcmirn most familiar instance is the royal banner of England. 
DanKSman (bangles man), n. , pi. omuumm commollly called the roya i standard ; but other heraldic 
(-men). [< bank's, poss. of bank*, + mail.] In banner* are used in the funeral ceremonies of knights of 
c<Kil-mining, a man in attendance at the mouth the Garter and the higher nobility. 
banner-stone 
3. An ensign or Hag bearing a. badge or em- 
blem, as of a society or order, and borne in 
processions. Haulier* "ere early used in the ). 
Moii!, of tin- rliri.tian church, usually of the form adopted 
li\ I'oii.ttantini-. It ConiUted of a -i|iiareclotll suspended 
from a cron-i-bar near tile top of a gilt |ilc, bearing or 
surmounted M the >acrc<l Mmbol jp. s.-c (nlm, <///,. 
4. Figuratively, anything displayed as a pro- 
fession of principles. 
Thou hast gi\rn a lunnu-r to tliciu that fear tliec, that it 
maj be display 'I lie, -an-,- of the truth. PS. IX. 4. 
See fii/iii/ii, fliu/, IK nniiii, and utandaril. 
5. In lint'., the 'vcxilluin or up]>er petal of a 
papilionaceous Mower. Also 
called the .itinnlni-il. 6. One 
of eio;|it divisions into wliiclt 
the .Manchus are inarsiialed. 
each with distinguishing flag 
or banner. Four of tin- Hags are 
plain (red. yellow, white, or blue). 
Hi.' other four having a margin of a 
different color. Hence, the Man- 
cbii> are knoun collectively a-s the 
/;/,/A' tlfiin"->-* and a- txltnu > ntfil. Pea-blotsom willi ex- 
H. '/. Leading Or foremost panded lUnner. a, bju 
in regaitl to some particular e 
cause or matter, such as giving the largest 
majority to a political party, etc. 
I am reminded that there is an Alleghany City as well 
a* an AUcghaiiy I'oiinty, the former the banner town, 
and the latter the banner county, perhaps, of the world. 
l.iiirnln, in Raymond, p. 84. 
banneralt, A corrupt form of bannerol, 2. 
bannered (ban'erd), a. [< banner + -fP.] 1. 
Furnished with or bearing a banner ; display- 
ing banners. 
A baniier'd host 
t'ndcr spread ensigns marching. 
Jfftton, P. L., II. 885. 
Bothwell's banneml hall. Scott, L. of the L., II. 8. 
2. Borne or blazoned on a banner. 
bannerer (ban'er-er), n. A standard-bearer; 
one who carries a banner. 
banneret 1 (ban'er-et), n. [Also bannerette, < 
ME. banneret, banerett, < OF. baneret, banerette, 
dim. of banere, banner : see banner and -et.~] A 
little banner; a banderole. 
The scarfs and the banneret* about thee did manifoldly 
dissuade me from believing thee a vessel of too great a 
burthen. Shale., All's Well, il. 3. 
banneret 2 (ban'er-et), n. [< ME. baneret, < OF. 
banerct, banneret, < banere, a banner (see ban- 
ner), + -ct, < L. -atus (see -ate 1 ) = E. -erf 2 ; lit., 
one bannered: see banner and -erf 2 .] 1. One 
who is bannered or entitled to a banner ; spe- 
cifically, a knight of a certain grade in the mili- 
tary hierarchy of the middle ages. Originally the 
right to display a banner (as distinguished from a pennon) 
was limited to those who could bring a certain array of 
followers into the field, and who had also been dublied or 
accoutred knight. As the military distinctions of earlier 
feudalism became confused by the employment of paid 
soldiers, the right of displaying a banner became more and 
more a reward for distinguished prowess in battle. After 
a victory or a notable achievement a banneret elect, carry- 
ing his pennon in his hand, was, it is said, conducted be- 
tween two knights of note, and presented to the king or 
general, who cut off the point or ends of his pennon, making 
it square. He was then called a hiight of the square flag. 
Also, called knight banneret. 
Sir Richard Croftes, who was made banneret at ... 
Stoke, was a wise man. Camden, Remains (ed. 1637), p. 271 . 
2. Formerly, the title of magistrates of the 
second rank in some Swiss cantons, and also of 
certain officers of some of the Italian republics. 
Melchior Sturmthal, . . . Banneret of Berne. 
Scott, Anne of Geierstein, I. vii. 
[In Solnthuni] on the death of an avoyer, the banneret 
succeeds to his place. J. Adams, Works, IV". 335. 
bannerless (ban'er-les), a. [< banner + -less.] 
Having no banner. J. H. Jesse. 
bannerman (ban'er-man), . ; pi. bannermen 
(-men). 1. A standard-bearer; a banuerer. 
2. A person belonging to one of the eight ban- 
ners into which the Manchus are marshaled. 
See banner, 6. 
bannerol (ban'e-rol), . [See banderole. This 
is the usual spelling in sense 2.] 1. Same as 
banderole. 2. In England, a banner, about a 
yard square, borne at the funerals of prominent 
men, and placed over the tomb. It bears the 
arms of the ancestors and alliances of the de- 
ceased, painted on silk. Also erroneously writ- 
ten banner-roll and bannerol. 
banner-plant (ban'er-plaut), n. A name given 
to some cultivated species of Anthwiwn, natural 
order Araceoe, in which the bright-scarlet spathe 
is broadly expanded at right angles to the spadix. 
banner-roll (ban'er-rol), n. An erroneous form 
of bannerol, 2. 
banner-stone (ban'er-ston), . A name some- 
times given, not very aptly, to certain stone 
objects shaped like a small two-edged ax. which 
