PREFACE TO THE FIFTH EDITION.

THOUGH but four years have elapsed since the last Edition of this Work was issued, great alterations of the law falling within its scope have been effected.

Reference need only be made to the Conveyancing and Law of Property Acts of 1881 and 1882, to the Married Women's Property Act of 1882, the Bills of Sale Act of 1882, the Settled Land Act of 1882, the Bankruptcy Act of 1883, and the Rules of the Supreme Court of 1883, to show how necessary a complete revision of the Work had become.

The alterations thus effected not being retrospective, it has been necessary to continue the statement of the old law, which has, however, been abbreviated when practicable. At the same time, it is believed that the effect of all the intervening decisions has been fully stated; and, in fact, there have been added upwards of eight hundred

new cases.

The result of these changes has been to still further enlarge the Work; and with a view to its more convenient use, the present Edition is issued in two volumes, a change which it is hoped will commend itself to students and the profession generally.

LINCOLN'S INN,

August, 1884.

W. W. M.

H. A. S.

PREFACE TO THE FOURTH EDITION.

THIRTY years have elapsed since the last Edition of this
Work. In the interval vast alterations have been made
in almost every branch of the Law of Mortgages. To show
how completely the whole subject has been revolutionised,
reference need only be made to the Judgment, Registra-
tion, and Bills of Sale Acts, to the Bankrupt Laws, to the
Acts relating to Married Women, to Locke King's, Lord
St. Leonards', and Lord Cranworth's Acts, to the Railway
and Merchant Shipping Acts, and the numerous statutes
which have materially changed the order of the Adminis-
tration of Assets. The present Work is, therefore, neces-
sarily not so much a new Edition, as a new Book.

The arrangement in the former Edition has been mainly
retained, but each Chapter is more strictly confined to its
particular subject-matter, important collateral subjects being
treated under separate headings. The Table of Contents
and Index have been entirely remodelled and enlarged.

The object sought to be attained has been to produce a
useful Practical Treatise, setting forth the law, as it is
believed to be, in clear, concise terms, expunging all
obsolete matter and the lengthy statements of the facts
of cases.

Many acknowledgments are due to the careful assistance
of Mr. Henry Arthur Smith, Barrister-at-Law, of 1, New
Square, in passing the Work through the press.

W. W. M.

LINCOLN'S INN,

October, 1880.