JOHN FRANCIS MERCER, ESQUIRE, GOVERNOR. NOVEMBER.

1802,

covenants, contrails, promises and agreements, due from, or owing or contracted by him, before
the date of the said deed, and by virtue of such order the said William Sprigg Bowie shall be dis-
charged as aforesaid; provided, that any property which the said William Sprigg Bowie shall here-
after acquire in his own right by devise, bequest, descent, or in course of distribution, shall be lia-
ble for the payment of his said debts; and provided also, that the discharge of the said William
Sprigg Bowie in virtue of this act shall not discharge any person or persons who now is, are or shall
be, liable or answerable for him in any manner whatsoever, except such person or persons as are or
have become bail for the said William Sprigg Bowie, who are hereby discharged therefrom.

CHAP,

XIV.

IV. AND BE IT ENACTED, That if any creditor of the said William Sprigg Bowie shall, within
two years from the passage oF this act, allege, in writing, to the said chief justice, or to the general ;
court of the western shore, or the county court of the county where the said William Sprigg Bowie
shall reside, and confirm his allegation by such proof as the said chief justice, or the courts respec-
tively, shall deem sufficient, that the said William Sprigg Bowie hath, before the passing of this act,
directly or indirectly, sold, conveyed, assigned, or otherwise disposed of, or purchased in trust for
himself, or intrusted or concealed, any part of his property of any kind, or any part of his debts,
rights or claims, thereby to deceive or defraud his creditors, or any of them, or to receive or expect
any profit or advantage thereby, the said chief justice or court respeclively, may thereupon, at the
election of the creditor making such allegation, either examine the said William Sprigg Bowie on
interrogatories, on oath or affirmation, touching the subject of the said allegations, or direcl an issue
or issues in a summary way, without the form of an action, to determine the truth of the same, and
if upon the answer of the said interrogatories, or the trial of the said issue or issues by a jury, the
said William Sprigg Bowie shall be found guilty of any fraud or deceit of his creditors, he shall be
for ever precluded from any benefit of this act; and if the said William Sprigg Bowie shall, at any
time thereafter, upon indictment, be convicted of wilfully, falsely and corruptly, swearing to any
matter or thing to which he shall swear by virtue of this act, he shall suffer as in the case of wilful
and corrupt perjury.

When fraud is
illeged, he
may be exa-
mined, &c

V. AND BE IT ENACTED, That if the said William Sprigg Bowie shall have been, or shall here-
after be, arrested or imprisoned on any process sued out on any judgment or decree obtained against
him for any debt, damages or costs, or on any other process sued out for the recovery of any debt,
damages or costs, contracted, owing or due before the passing of this act, the court before whom
such process shall be returnable, or any one judge or justice thereof during the recess of the court,
shall and may discharge the said William Sprigg Bowie out of custody, directing a common appear-
ance to be entered to the mesne process; provided that the discharge of the said William Sprigg
Bowie shall not acquit any other person from such debt, damages or costs, or any part thereof, but
that all such persons shall be answerable for the same in such manner as they were before the passing
of this act.

If arrested,
nay be dis-
charged, &c.

VI. AND BE IT ENACTED, That the creditor or creditors making such allegation shall be liable
to pay to the said William Sprigg Bowie such costs and damages as the said chief justice, or the
court respectively, before whom the allegation or issue or issues shall be tried, shall award, if the
said William Sprigg Bowie shall not be convict thereof.

CHAP. XV.

Creditor liable
to pay, &c.

An ACT for the benefit of John A. Gillison, of the city of Bal-
timore.

Passed 8th of
January, 1803.

WHEREAS John A. Glllison, a resident of the city of Baltimore, and now a citizen of the
United States, hath represented to this general assembly, that before he became naturalised
he purchased some real property in the city of Baltimore, and obtained a deed of conveyance for the
same : And whereas some doubts have arisen as to the validity of the title of the said John A. Gil-
lison, in as much as conveyance thereof was made before he was naturalized; therefore,

Preamble.

II. BE IT ENACTED, by the General Assembly of Maryland, That the title of the said John A. Gilli-
son to the said real property shall be, and the same is hereby made, as perfect and complete, to all
intents and purposes, as if the said John A. Gillison had been naturalized agreeably to the laws of
the United States before the said purchase was made, any law of this state to the contrary notwith-
standing; provided always, that nothing in this act contained shall in any manner defeat or affect
any right, title or claim, to the said property, or any part thereof, acquired or prosecuted by any
person or persons whatever before the passage of this act.
CHAP.

Title made per-
fect, &c.