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322 
ship of goods or commodities.” The ruling sta- 
tute in cases of bankruptcy was, until lately, the 
54° Geo. III.,c.137. Various alterations had been 
suggested in this act, which expired in 1822, 
but was repeatedly renewed in consequence of 
the difficulty of introducing new enactments. 
A new act for regulating the sequestration of 
bankrupt estates in Scotland was at last matured, 
viz., the 2° and 3° Victoria, c. 41, which passed 
August 17th, 1839. All persons capable of enter- 
ing into trade, are liable to sequestration ; peers 
and others having privilege of parliament ; un- 
married women and widows coming under the 
description, and also married women who carry 
on trade or merchandise independent of their 
husbands. Trading companies may also be se- 
questrated ; and any debtor “who is or has been 
amerchant, trader, manufacturer, banker, broker, 
warehouseman, wharfinger, underwriter, artifi- 
cer, packer, builder, carpenter, shipwright, inn- 
keeper, hotel-keeper, stable-keeper, coach-con- 
tractor, cattle-dealer, grain-dealer, coal-dealer, 
fish-dealer, lime-burner, printer, dyer, bleacher, 
fuller, calenderer, and generally any debtor who 
seeks or has sought his living, or a material 
part thereof, for himself, or in partnership with 
another, or as an agent or factor for others, by 
using the trade of merchandise, by way of bar 
gains, exchange, barter, commission, or consign- 
ment, or by buying and selling, or by buying and 
letting for hire, or by the workmanship or manu- 
facture of goods or commodities.” <A foreigner 
who has traded to Scotland, or a Scotsman dom- 
iciled abroad, cannot be sequestrated although 
found in Scotland. 
Such are the persons lable to sequestration. 
It is next to be considered, from what acts bank- 
ruptcy is inferred, so as to authorize this process. 
Where the debtor himself concurs, no proof of bank- 
ruptcy is necessary. Where he does not concur, 
the creditor must show that certain steps of dili- 
gence have been taken against him. ‘These are, 
That the debtor shall be under diligence by horn- 
ing and caption for debt, and shall either, in 
virtue thereof, be imprisoned, or retire to a sanc- 
tuary, or fly or abscond for his personal safety, 
or defend his person by force; or being out 
of Scotland, and not liable to be imprisoned, 
by reason of privilege or personal protection, 
shall be under diligence by charge of horning, 
attended with arrestment not loosed, or poinding 
of any part of his moveables, or decree of adjudi- 
cation of any part of his estate, for payment or 
security of debt at the instance of any creditor. 
When a person comes under the description of 
the statute, and has been rendered bankrupt by 
the use of any of the diligence just mentioned, 
any one creditor, to the amount of £50, or two 
creditors to the amount of £70, or three or more 
to the amount of £100, either with or without 
the concurrence of the bankrupt, may apply by 
summary petition to the Court of Session for a 
sequestration. Where the bankrupt concurs, se- 
BANKRUPTCY. 
questration is immediately awarded ; where he 
does not concur, a warrant is granted for serving 
the petition upon him, and if he does not appear, 
and show cause to the contrary, sequestration is 
awarded against him. The court at the same 
time appoints the creditors to meet and choose 
an interim-factor for managing the estate, and 
also appoints a subsequent meeting for choosing 
a trustee, and, under the recent act, remits to the 
sheriff of the county within which the bankrupt 
resides to pursue the routine business connected 
with the sequestration. Notice of the sequestra- 
tion must be given, within four days from its 
being awarded, in the Edinburgh Gazette, and 
also, within eight days, in the London Gazette. 
When the factor is chosen, he has power to 
take possession of the whole estate, books, and 
vouchers of the bankrupt, who is bound to grant 
powers of attorney, for recovering any effects 
he may have abroad. At the next meeting 
ordered by the court—which must be within 
six weeks, and not less than four of the first de- 
liverance on the petition for sequestration—the 
creditors who have produced their grounds of 
debt, and affidavits to the verity, proceed to elect 
a trustee, to whom the estate may be assigned 
for the general behoof. This trustee is to be 
chosen by a majority of the creditors in number 
and value. Two trustees may be chosen to act, the 
one failing the other, but one only can act at the 
same time. At this meeting, the bankrupt must 
exhibit a state of his affairs, and the interim- 
factor must also produce an account of his man- 
agement. 
The trustee must find security to the creditors 
for his faithful management; after which the 
Court of Session, upon application, will confirm 
his nomination, and he is then authorized to take 
possession of and uplift the estate of the bankrupt, 
and to exoner the interim-factor. The court at 
the same time appoints the bankrupt to grant a re- 
gular conveyance of his whole estate, to the trus- 
tee, under the pain of fraudulent bankruptcy, and 
failing his doing so, the court may commit him 
to prison. Whether such conveyance be granted 
or not, the whole estate is adjudged by the court 
to be vested in the trustee for behoof of the cre- 
ditors. The trustee must, within eight days of his 
appointment, apply to the sheriff to fix two days 
for the examination of the bankrupt, upon all. 
matters relating to his affairs. The bankrupt’s 
wife, and others of his family, and any other per- 
son connected with his affairs, may also be ex- 
amined. At the last of these examinations, the 
bankrupt must take an oath that he has exhibit- 
ed a full state of his affairs; and failing his doing 
so, he shall be guilty of the crime of fraudulent 
bankruptcy, and punished accordingly, and ren- 
dered infamous. The trustee may apply to the 
court to grant protections to the bankrupt from 
diligence, to enable him to attend examinations, 
and to assist in recovering his estate ; and while so 
employed, the creditors may give him an allowance 
Spe 
