In case the prisoner shall take such oath and upon examination the clerk shall be satisfied with the truth thereof he shall order the lands, goods and effects contained in such account, or so much of them as may be sufficient to satisfy the debts wherewith such petitioner shall be charged and the fees of the keeper of the jail where he shall be in custody together with the costs of suit which shall be incurred on the suit or prosecution commenced against him and all other costs and fees which shall arise or become due upon prosecuting and obtaining his discharge from arrest and confinement, by a short endorsement on the back of his petition, signed by the petitioner, to be assigned to some suitable person to be selected by the clerk, as assignee for the benefit of the plaintiff and such creditors as may appear or establish claims against the debtor. But if the petitioner be the head of a family there shall be reserved to him out of his real and personal property a homestead and such articles as are exempt from attachment, levy and sale under the provisions of the Constitution and laws of this State.