the product of
commercial development, it has necessarily been of slow and gradual growth,
tentative in its character, and subject to oscillation between the extremes
of conflicting interests according to the temporary and varying
predominance of each of these interests from time to time. No intelligible
grasp of the principles which underlie the history of bankruptcy
legislation in England, and no satisfactory explanation of the fluctuating
tendencies which have marked its progress, are possible without bearing
these considerations in view.

_Bankruptcy in England._

[Sidenote: History.]

The subject was originally dealt with in the sole interest of creditors; it
was considered fraudulent for a debtor to procure his own bankruptcy. Thus
the earliest English statute on the subject, 34 & 35 Henry VIII. c. 4 (A.D.
1542), was directed against fraudulent debtors, and gave power to the lord
chancellor and other high officers to seize their estates and divide them
among the creditors, but afforded no relief to the debtor from his
liabilities. Subsequent legislation modified this attitude and introduced
the principle of granting relief to the bankrupt with or without the
consent of the creditors, where he conformed to the provisions of the
bankruptcy law, and under the act of 1825 the debtor was allowed himself to
initiate proceedings. Since 1542 about forty acts of parliament have been
passed, dealing with the many aspects of the subject, and slowly expanding,
modifying and building up the highly complex system of administration which
now exists.

[Sidenote: Court of 1831.]

The courts exercising jurisdiction originally, consisted of commissioners
appointed by the lord chancellor. But in 1831 a special court of bankruptcy
was established, consisting of six commissioners with four judges as a
court of review, and official assignees attached to the court for the
purpose of getting in the distributing the bankrupt's assets. Non-traders
were originally excluded from the bankruptcy court, and a special court
called the "court for relief of insolvent debtors" was instituted for their
benefit, in which relief from the liability to imprisonment could be
obtained on surrender of their property, but they were not discharged from
their debts, subsequently-acquired property remaining liable. Both of these
courts were subsequently abolished, non-traders were permitted to obtain
the benefit of the bankruptcy laws, including a discharg