contract debt, in respect of which Henry and William were jointly
liable, the remedy for which could be barred in six years, and which,
if sued upon, must be strictly proved unless admitted ; the other
a specialty debt, of a joint and several nature, of a nominal amount
of £9,858, probably far in excess of the actual indebtedness of the
firm, though we are left in doubt how it was arrived at, an obligation
requiring twenty years' limitation, and containing a very special pro-
vision in its third condition, making, at the option of the Bank, strict _
proof unnecessary. That the two sets of legal relations were in law
distinct is apparent from such cases as Henniker v. Wigg (1) and
Swan v. Blair (2). It is trite law that originally at common law -
the full amount of the bond was recoverable on breach of condition
and nothing further. Then equity interposed, and on the one
hand restrained the obligee from recovering more than the sum
intended to be secured, and on the other hand allowed in certain
circumstances a sum larger than the amount of the bond to be
recovered (Grant v. Grant (3)). The two obligations are thus
entirely distinct in law. Statutes have now rendered equitable -
interposition unnecessary in the former case. It is also clear that
the Bank thought the two obligations distinct, because in February
1914, that is, after the assignment of the bond to Sampson Palmer,
the Bank proved in the estate of William Deane for £6,114 2s. 4d.,
but without reference to the bond. This would probably have been
in the interests and under the direction of Sampson Palmer, because
he had purchased the Bank's interest in the bankrupt estate in the
preceding month. In those proceedings it was stated that the
Bank still held security worth £20. Therefore the bond debt sold
for £10 could not have included the current account, which was
worth admittedly more to keep. The two debts, being in law
distinct, were thus apparently kept distinct by the Bank and by
Sampson Palmer.