of proceedings, and provides for the taking of examinations of the bankrupt and witnesses, &c.

Sections thirty-nine, forty, forty-one, and forty-two, provide for and regulate compulsory proceedings in bankruptcy.

Section thirty-nine prescribes the several grounds upon which the debtor, upon petition of one or more of his creditors, whose debts amount in the aggregate to at least two hundred and fifty dollars, may apply for and, upon proof of the act, obtain, at any time within six months of the committing of the act, adjudication of bankruptcy against the debtor.

Section forty-third provides for the superseding of proceedings in bankruptcy, by an arrangement to be made as therein is specially set forth.

Ninth. Penalties against Debtors and against Officers.

Section forty-four provides, that any debtor or bankrupt, who shall, after the commencement of proceedings in bankruptcy, be guilty of certain acts of fraud therein specifically set forth, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction shall be punished by imprisonment not exceeding three years.

Section forty-five provides for a fine and imprisonment of any officer of the courts of bankruptcy, who shall be guilty of corruption, extortion, or other acts of wrong doing.

Section forty-six provides penalties for forging the signature of any officer of the courts, or offering in evidence any forged document.

Section forty-seven prescribes the fees and costs to become due to clerks and other officers.

Sections forty-eight, forty-nine, and fifty, give the meaning of terms used in the Act, and confer jurisdiction upon the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia and of the several territories. Section fifty declares when the Act shall go into operation.

A short act in amendment was passed in 1868. The entire text of this act and the amendment is printed in a cheap pamphlet which contains also the general orders adopted by the justices of the Supreme Court of the United States, and

constituting the rules of practice and procedure in bankruptcy in the District Courts throughout the United States. The law in this or some more expensive form, is in the hands of every lawyer and officer in bankruptcy, and can be easily found by any one desiring to refer to it. It is therefore not thought desirable to refer to it more fully here.

The forms of application, schedule, &c., and of papers to be used in proceedings, are furnished by the clerks and registers upon printed blanks, upon application, and are not needed for general information of parties or counsel.

CHAPTER XXI.

OF REMEDIES FOR THE COLLECTION OF DEBTS.

We have already spoken fully of Liens in Chap. VII., and of Stoppage in Transitu in the eleventh section of Chap. VI.; both of which are exercised adversely to a debtor and belong strictly to the list of remedies. In Chap. XVIII., we have spoken of arbitration, which is a form of amicable relief and remedy. In the present chapter we shall speak only of those remedies which are to be pursued under the forms of judicial process, which is always commenced by suing out a writ.

Writs sometimes purport to be issued by the court or magistrate before whom the cause must finally come for trial and adjudication, but are, at this day, more frequently signed by, and therefore purport to issue from, the attorney who really draws them, and who is specially authorized as justice of the peace, commissioner of the court, or as an attorney of the court, to issue most kinds of writs. If a writ is filled up by a private party it must, of course, be signed by some one of these officers specially authorized by statute. They are usually directed to some sheriff, or other officer specially qualified by law, to serve them upon the defendant. Service is made by a mere summons of the defendant, which directs him when and where to appear, to make answer and defence to the matters set forth in the declaration, by arrest of the person of the defendant, or by attachment of his property.

The declaration is a statement of the cause of action: i. e., of that, on account of which, the plaintiff complains against the defendant.

In some of the states it is called the complaint of the plaintiff. It is sometimes prepared with, and as a part of, the writ, and sometimes filed separately; the practice of the different states being unlike in that respect.

Execution of the command of the writ is denominated service, and is made in the three different ways of which we have spoken.

It may also be by personal service, (as it must, of course, be where it is made by arrest,) or, in the case of a summons, or of a summons and attachment of property, it may be by copy of the process left at the usual residence of the defendant.

The writ must be served a number of days (fixed by statute in the different States) before the return day. The doings of the officer, who serves the writ, are set forth on the back of the writ, and the indorsement thereof is called his return. If he returns such facts as constitute due service, the defendant is in court and the cause proceeds, without his actual appearance. If, in fact, no actual service has been made, and the defendant has had no notice, he has remedy under statute provisions, which differ in the several states. In some, the return of the officer is, for the purposes of the suit, conclusive upon the defendant, and he is left to his remedy by action against the officer for a false return; while, in others, he may appear and prove the falsity of the return. If judgment is recovered against him, before he has actual notice, he usually has remedy by petition for new trial, writ of review, or bill in equity.

SECTION 1.

Of Arrest.

This is done by an actual taking of the body, of the defendant, into the custody of the officer; mere words do not, in any case, constitute it. The body must be touched, or the door locked upon the defendant, or some other act, implying a control of his person on the part of the officer, must be done.

In England, and in our States, a man's dwelling house is his castle of defence, and the outer door of it may not be broken open even by an officer of the law, for the purposes of a civil action, even to arrest the body of a defendant who is known to be concealed or resting in the house.

After once touching him or otherwise arresting him, he is his prisoner, and the officer making the arrest may, for the purpose of continuing to hold the defendant in custody, break open an outer door. In all cases, if the outer door be open, an inner door may be forced. An outer door is not always on the outside of the dwelling; as, where there is a common entrance hall, each occupant of a dwelling opening from such hall has his outer door opening into that.

When the defendant has been arrested, he has a right to put in bail; to take the poor debtor's oath; or to go to jail. Bail is of two kinds: bail for appearance to answer, which is given to the officer as his indemnity if the defendant shall fail to appear, and special bail, which is a recognizance of the defendant with sufficient sureties with conditions that, if the plaintiff shall prevail in the suit the defendant shall either pay the judgment and cost (or surrender his body to the officer who made the arrest) or that the sureties shall pay for him. The sureties are required, if the plaintiff objects to them as insufficient, to make oath to the sufficiency of their property.

In theory, the defendant is in the hands of the officer from the time he puts in bail for his appearance till special bail is given, after which the liability of the officer ceases, and the defendant is considered in the hands of his sureties. The sureties are entitled to receive from the clerk of the court a paper, usually called a bail-piece, purporting that the defendant is bailed or delivered to his sureties; upon which paper they may at any time and any where (even in another state), take him (the principal) into custody, if they become apprehensive that he designs to avoid the judgment or if they are unwilling to be longer at the risk of it.

A defendant is not now liable to arrest in most of the states for an ordinary debt founded upon a contract; nor except upon some fraud, or attempt to commit fraud. The local legislation differs somewhat in detail, but the general grounds, upon which an arrest can now be made, may be stated with sufficient accuracy and fulness, for the purposes of this book, as follows: 1st, Where the defendant has removed