by John Marshall Harlan

“ We concur in the view expressed by the State court, that Neal was not guilty of actual fraud. The evidence does not show that he entertained any purpose himself to commit a fraud, or to aid the executor in committing one. The fair inference from all the testimony is that he purchased the bonds in good faith, not doubting the power or the right of the executor to sell, and having no reason to believe that he meditated any wrong to those interested in the estate which he was administering. ”

“ In the very able opinion of the Court of Appeals, it is said that 'all the cases agree in the principle that a purchaser from an executor of personal property of the testator for valuable consideration need not inquire, and has no means of inquiry, whether the condition of the testator's estate requires a sale of the property, and is not bound to see to the application of the purchase-money, but may fairly presume that the sale is rightly made, and that the purchase-money will be properly applied ”

“ Such a construction of the statute is consonant with equity, and consistent with the object and intention of Congress in enacting a general law by which the honest citizen may be relieved from the burden of hopeless insolvency. A different construction would be inconsistent with the liberal spirit which pervades the entire bankrupt system.
It results from what has been said that the debt or claim asserted against Neal was not 'created by the fraud . . . ”