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 Early Legislation against Fraudulent Conveyances.

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are the only survivors. In 1858 Harvard * upon legal questions after he was seventy. The wonderful preservation of Mr. Glad conferred upon him the degree of LL.D. Most of his eminent professional contem stone's mental powers has often excited poraries have passed away. Chief-Justice comment, yet Mr. Bartlett, who retained his Shaw was one of them. Benjamin R. Cur mental vigor to the last, was his senior by tis, a brilliant lawyer with whom Mr. Bartlett ten years. often crossed swords and with whom he was The extraordinary length of Mr. Bartlett's socially intimate, and who died when he was career is forcibly brought home to the minds sixty-five, was another; and others were of the legal fraternity by the fact that while Franklin Dexter, who passed away at sixty- he was at the bar the membership both of four; Webster, who reached only his seventy- the Supreme Court of the United States first year; Jeremiah Mason and Chief-Justice and of the Supreme Court of Massachusetts Theophilus Parsons, who lived to the age was twice renewed. Moreover, only two of eighty and sixty-three, respectively. Had members of our present Supreme Court had Rufus Choate lived, he would have been even gone so far as to be born when Mr. about the same age as Mr. Bartlett. Horace Bartlett began to practise. Binney is probably the only distinguished On the 6th of March, 1889, this wonderful lawyer who survived to a greater age than life came to its close. The happiest of us that reached by Mr. Bartlett. He lived to be can hardly hope for a destiny so complete ninety-five, but retired from active general and fortunate as that which has just been practice when he was fifty-six. He argued fulfilled. We shall be fortunate enough if the famous Girard will case in the United we shall have learned to look into the face States Supreme Court when he was sixty-four, of fate and the unknown with a smile like but refrained from giving written opinions his.

EARLY

LEGISLATION

AGAINST

TT 7E are permitted to give to our readers V V the following extract concerning preElizabethan legislation touching fraud, from the second volume of Mr. Melville M. Bigelow's work on Fraud, now in the press : — "The earliest statute worthy of particular notice, which deals directly with fraudulent conveyances, is of the year 1376-7; that is, about two cen turies before the more famous statutes of Elizabeth. In that statute, which is in Anglo-French, the Commons pray that, whereas divers persons, as well heirs of tenements as others, borrow money or goods of many people of the kingdom, and then give all their tenements and chattels to their friends, by collusion of having the profits thereof at their pleasure, and then betake themselves to Westmin ster, St. Martin, or other privileged places, and there live in great state ( ' contenance ' ) on other goods

FRAUDULENT

CONVEYANCES.

in manner aforesaid, so that their creditors shall be greatly put to it to get a small part of their debts on releasing the rest, and then the debtors re turn to their houses and have back their tene ments, goods, and chattels at their pleasure by assent of their said friends; and by reason of such frauds and collusions many persons of the kingdom are very sorely grieved, and some en tirely destroyed; therefore the Commons pray remedy by a writ of debt against the occupiers of such tenements and chattels, or other suitable remedy. In answer the King wills that if it shall be found that such feoffments were made by col lusion, the creditors shall have execution on the said lands as before, as if no such feoffments had been made. "A statute of similar type, of the reign of Henry the Seventh, follows, after an interval of a century and more, by which time statutes had come to as