from
Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856)
CESSIO BONORUM, civil law. The relinquishment which a debtor made of his
property for the benefit of his creditors.
2. This exempted the debtor from imprisonment, not, however, without
leaving an ignominious stain on his reputation. Dig. 2, 4, 25; Id. 48, 19,
1; Nov. 4, c. 3, and Nov. 135. By the latter Novel, an honest unfortunate
debtor might be discharged, by simply affirming that he was insolvent,
without having recourse to the benefit of cession. By the cession the
creditors acquired title to all the property of the insolvent debtor.
3. The cession discharged the debtor only to the extent of the property
ceded, and he remained responsible for the difference. Dom. Lois Civ. liv.
4, tit. 5., s. 1, n. 2. Vide, for the law of Louisiana, Code, art. 2166, et
seq. 2 M. R. 112; 2 L. R. 354; 11 L. R. 531; 5 N. S. 299; 2 L. R. 39; 2 N.
S. 108; 3 M. R. 232; 4 Wheat. 122; and Abandonment.