warrant, to apply at any time after such arrest or seizure to such court for an order or rule on the petitioning creditor named in such fiat to show cause why the person arrested should not be discharged out of custody, or why his books, papers, monies, securities for monies, goods, and chattels should not be delivered up to him; and that it shall be lawful for such court to make absolute or discharge such order or rule, and to direct the costs of the application to be paid by either party; provided that any such order may be discharged Order of court or varied by the Court of Review, on application made thereto may be appealed by either party dissatisfied with such order.

Court may discharge the per

son, or not.

upon an act committed more

7. And be it enacted, That no person shall be liable to No person liable become bankrupt by reason of any act of bankruptcy committed more than twelve months prior to the issuing of any than twelve fiat in bankruptcy against him.

months.

certed between

creditor, &c. not

8. And be it enacted, That no fiat in bankruptcy shall be Act of bankdeemed invalid, by reason of any act of bankruptcy of the ruptcy conperson against whom the adjudication of bankruptcy there- bankrupt and under shall be made having been concerted or agreed upon to invalidate between the bankrupt and any creditor or other person, save fiat. and except where any petition to supersede or annul a fiat for any such cause shall have been already presented, and shall be now pending.

amount of peti

9. And be it enacted, That the amount of the debt or debts Requisite of any creditor or creditors petitioning for a fiat in bankruptcy tioning creshall hereafter be as follows; that is to say, the single debt ditor's debt. of such creditor, or of two or more persons being partners, petitioning for the same, shall amount to 50l. or upwards, and the debt of two creditors so petitioning shall amount to 70%. or upwards, and the debt of three or more creditors so petitioning shall amount to 1007. or upwards; and that every person who has given credit to any trader upon valuable consideration for any sum payable at a certain time, which time shall not have arrived when such trader committed an act of bankruptcy, may so petition or join in petitioning as aforesaid, whether he shall have had any security in writing for such sum or not.

liable to become

10. And be it enacted, That all livery stable keepers, coach Persons speproprietors, carriers, ship-owners, auctioneers, apothecaries, cially named market-gardeners, cow-keepers, brick-makers, alum-makers, bankrupts. lime-burners, and millers shall be deemed traders, and subject and liable as traders to this and to the other statutes relating to bankrupts.

Creditor of a trader making affidavit of his

debt and of his having required

payment, court may summon the trader.

Manner of proceeding on summons of trader by a creditor.

Trader not attending summons, or refus ing to admit the

demand and not making deposition of belief of a good defence thereto, and not

11. And be it enacted, That if any creditor of any trader, within the meaning of this or any other statute relating to bankrupts now or hereafter to be in force, shall file an affidavit in the court authorized as hereinafter provided to act in the prosecution of fiats in bankruptcy in the district (to be described as hereinafter mentioned) in which such debtor shall reside, or in the court of bankruptcy if such debtor shall not reside in any such district, in the form specified in schedule hereunto annexed (A. No. 1), of the truth of his debt, and of the debtor, as he verily believes, being such trader as aforesaid, and of the delivery to such trader, personally, of an account in writing of the particulars of his demand, with a notice thereunder requiring immediate payment thereof, in the form specified in the said schedule (A. No. 2), it shall be lawful for the court in which such affidavit shall be filed, as the case may be, to issue a summons in writing, in the form specified in the said schedule (A. No. 3), calling upon such trader to appear before such court, and stating in such summons the purpose for which such trader is called upon by such summons to appear as hereinafter provided.

12. And be it enacted, That, upon the appearance of any such trader so summoned as aforesaid, it shall be lawful for such court to require such trader to state whether or not he admits the demand of such creditor so sworn to as aforesaid, or any and what part thereof, and if such trader shall admit such demand or any part thereof to reduce such admission into writing, in the form specified in the schedule hereunto annexed (B. No. 1), and such admission so reduced into writing such trader is hereby required to sign, and the same is thereupon to be filed in such court; and it shall also be lawful for such court to allow such trader upon his said appearance to make a deposition upon oath, in writing under his hand, to be filed in such court, in the form specified in the said schedule (B. No. 2), that he verily believes he has a good defence to the said demand, or to some and what part thereof.

13. And be it enacted, That if any such trader so summoned as aforesaid shall not come before such court at the time appointed (having no lawful impediment made known to and proved to the satisfaction of the court at the said time, and allowed), or if any such trader, upon his appearance to such summons as aforesaid, or at any enlargement or ad

a certain time,

for

be deemed an

journment thereof (as the case may be), shall refuse to admit paying or comsuch demand, and shall not make a deposition, in the form pounding within hereinbefore mentioned, that he believes he has a good de- or giving bond fence to such demand, then and in either of the said cases, if payment, to such trader shall not, within fourteen days after personal act of bankservice of such summons, or within such enlarged time as ruptcy. may be granted to him in that behalf, pay, secure, or compound for such demand to the satisfaction of such creditor, or enter into a bond, in such sum and with two sufficient sureties as such court shall approve of, to pay such sum as shall be recovered in any action which shall have been brought or shall thereafter be brought for the recovering of the same, together with such costs as shall be given in such action, every such trader shall be deemed to have committed an act of bankruptcy on the fifteenth day after service of such summons, provided a fiat in bankruptcy shall issue against such trader within two months from the filing of such affidavit.

14. And be it enacted, That if any such trader so summoned as aforesaid upon his said appearance shall sign an admission of such demand in the form aforesaid, and shall not, within fourteen days next after the filing of such admission, pay, or tender and offer to pay, to such creditor the amount of such demand, or secure or compound for the same to the satisfaction of the creditor, every such trader shall be deemed to have committed an act of bankruptcy on the fifteenth day after the filing of such admission, provided a fiat in bankruptcy shall issue against such trader within two months from the filing of such affidavit.

Trader signing an admission of demand in form prescribed, and not paying, securing, or compounding within

a certain time, an act of bankruptcy.

Trader admitting part only of a demand, and not making deposition of a good defence to the

residue, and not paying, securing, or compounding for

15. And be it enacted, That if any such trader, so summoned as aforesaid, shall upon his said appearance sign an admission for part only of such demand in the form aforesaid, and shall not make a deposition in the form herein-before required that he believes he has a good defence to the residue of such demand, then and in such case, if such trader, as to the sum so admitted, shall not, within fourteen days next after the filing of such admission, pay, or tender and offer to pay, to such creditor the sum so admitted, or secure or compound for the same to the satisfaction of the creditor, and as to the residue of such demand shall not, within fourteen days after personal service of such summons, or within such enlarged time as may be granted to him in that behalf, pay, covered, with

sum admitted; and, as to residue, not paying or compounding or entering into bond to pay

any sum re

costs; an act of bankruptcy.

What shall be deemed a refusal of admission of debt.

Court may enlarge the time for admission of demand.

Admission of debt signed elsewhere than

in court, if attested by attorney of trader, may be filed, and have the

same force as an admission signed by a trader on his appearance in court under

the summons.

Trader summoned on affidavit of debt to have such

secure, or compound for the same to the satisfaction of such creditor, or enter into a bond, in such sum and with two sufficient sureties as such court shall approve of, to pay such sum as shall be recovered in any action which shall have been brought or shall thereafter be brought for the recovery of the same, together with such costs as shall be given in such action, every such trader shall be deemed to have committed an act of bankruptcy on the fifteenth day after service of such summons, provided a fiat in bankruptcy shall issue against such trader within two months from the filing of such affidavit.

16. Provided always, and be it enacted, That if any such trader so summoned as aforesaid shall, upon his appearance before such court, refuse to sign the admission in that behalf required as aforesaid, whatever may be the nature of his statement, or whether he makes any statement or not, it shall be deemed, for the purposes of this act, that every such trader thereby refuses to admit such demand: Provided always, that it shall be lawful for such court, upon reasonable cause shown, to enlarge the time for calling upon such trader to state whether or not he admits such demand, or any part thereof, and for entering into such bond, or for either of such matters, for such time as such court shall think fit.

17. Provided always, and be it enacted, That an admission of any debt made after such summons as aforesaid, and signed by any such trader elsewhere than before such court, may be filed in such court, and shall be of the same force and effect to all intents and purposes as an admission signed by such trader so summoned as aforesaid on his appearance in such court, provided there be present some attorney of one of her Majesty's superior courts of law on behalf of such trader, expressly named by him and attending at his request, to inform him of the effect of such admission before the same is signed by such trader; and provided also, that such attorney do subscribe his name thereto as a witness to the due execution thereof, and in such attestation declare himself to be attorney for the said trader, and state therein that he subscribes as such attorney, and that such admission shall be made in the form of schedule (C.) hereunto annexed.

18. And be it enacted, That where any trader against whom an affidavit of debt is filed as aforesaid, shall be summoned to appear before the court in which such affidavit

court shall

shall be filed, as the case may be, every such trader shall costs as the have such costs and charges as such court in its discretion think fit. shall think fit.

Wherever a creditor (plaintiff) shall not recover the

amount sworn to in his affi

davit of debt filed against a trader, if such affidavit be made for such

amount, without

fendant) shall be entitled to

costs.

19. And be it enacted, That in every action brought after the commencement of this act, wherein any such creditor is plaintiff and any such trader is defendant, and wherein the plaintiff shall not recover the amount of the sum for which he shall have filed an affidavit of debt under the provisions of this act, such defendant shall be entitled to costs of suit, to be taxed according to the custom of the court in which such action shall have been brought, provided that it shall be made appear to the satisfaction of the court in which such probable cause, action is brought, upon motion to be made in court for that the trader (depurpose, and upon hearing the parties by affidavit, that the plaintiff in such action had not any reasonable or probable cause for making such affidavit of debt in such amount as aforesaid, and provided such court shall thereupon, by a rule or order of the same court, direct that such costs shall be allowed to the defendant; and the plaintiff shall, upon such rule or order being made as aforesaid, be disabled from taking out any execution for the sum recovered in any such action, unless the same shall exceed, and then in such sum only as the same shall exceed, the amount of the taxed costs of the defendant in such action; and in case the sum recovered in any such action shall be less than the amount of the costs of the defendant to be taxed as aforesaid, that then the defendant shall be entitled, after deducting the sum of money recovered by the plaintiff in such action from the amount of his costs so to be taxed as aforesaid, to take out execution for such costs in like manner as a defendant may now by law have execution for costs in other cases.

or compounding for a judgment debt, upon which the plaintiff might tion within fourteen days after notice

sue out execu

20. And be it enacted, That if any plaintiff shall recover Trader not pays judgment in any action personal for the recovery of any debt ing, securing, or money demand, in any of her Majesty's Courts of record, against any such trader, and shall be in a situation to sue out execution upon such judgment, and there be nothing due from such plaintiff by way of set-off against such judgment, and such trader shall not, within fourteen days after notice in writing personally served upon him requiring immediate pay ment of such judgment debt, pay, secure, or compound for the same to the satisfaction of such plaintiff, he shall be deemed to have committed an act of bankruptcy on the fif

requiring payment, an act of bankruptcy.