by John Marshall Harlan

“ She cannot use the adjudication in bankruptcy to give vitality to an execution levy, which, when made, was ineffectual for any purpose of priority, and then employ the levy, thus vitalized, to defeat the primary object of the adjudication, which was to distribute the bankrupt's effects for the equal benefit of all the creditors. Whatever may be the respective claims of the assignee in bankruptcy and Combs, it is sufficient for the disposition of this case to say that the appellant acquired no priority of right by the execution levy. ”

“ The assignment to Combs was, according to the evidence in this cause, made in good faith for the purpose of securing an equitable distribution of the debtor's property for the benefit of all of his creditors, including the appellant, and not with any intent to hinder, delay, or defraud them. The right of a debtor at common law to devote his whole estate to the satisfaction of the claims of creditors results, as Mr. Chief Justice Marshall declares, 'from that absolute ownership which every man claims over that which is his own.' Brashear v. ”

“ Mayer et al. v. Hellman, supra. Such interference was not regarded as hindrance and delay, within the meaning of the statutes against fraudulent conveyances. This precise question arose in Pickstock v. ”