(224) contemporary French writers Defontaines and Beaumanoir, is not only a treatise on the doctrines or principles of the law, but also, and to a very considerable extent, an exposition of the mode of conducting actions and other proceedings in the courts; or what would be called in modern times, a book of practice. It abounds in forms, especially of writs, which are given at length, with all the rules of procedure, and with such minuteness as prove the author to have been fully acquainted with the details of the subject. The extent to which Bracton drew his materials from the civil law, is a question upon which very different opinions have been entertained, and which, from the important bearing recently given to it, upon the origin and composition of the common law itself, has assumed a high degree of interest. It was said by Mr. Reeves, (a very competent judge, as has always been supposed,) in his History of the English Law, that what Bracton took from the Roman law, "if put together, would perhaps not fill three whole pages of his book." 2 Reeves' Hist. Eng. Law, 88. This opinion has been warmly controverted by the English civilians, and particularly, of late, by Mr. Long and Mr. Spence, in the works already referred to, from whose representations the very opposite conclusion might be drawn, that the treatise De Legibus et Consuetudinibus Anglia was little more, in substance, than a compilation of Roman jurisprudence, adapted to, and incorporating the English law and practice of the time. The assertion of Mr. Reeves may be safely questioned, without by any means admitting such a conclusion as this. The free use made by Bracton of the civil law at the very commencement of his treatise, (whole passages being given verbatim, and without any indication of the sources from which they are derived,) and the adoption, to some extent, of the arrangement of the Institutes, have undoubtedly imparted to the whole work very much of a Roman air and exterior; but a careful examination will show (it is believed) that it has been compiled essentially from other sources. Those portions in which the civil law has been either referred to, or used without reference, are principally confined to the first book, less than half of the second, and the first tract of the third, comprising together about oneeighth of the whole treatise; and much of the matter thus borrowed seems to have been introduced rather for the purpose of filling up the outline of a great work, than of giving what was considered to be the settled law of England. Bracton's view of the Roman law probably resembled that of the compilers of the Books of Feuds or Fiefs, as expressed in Feud. Lib. 2, tit. 1. More will be said on this subject, under the heads of the Common and Civil Law. The style of Bracton, when not obscured by corruptions of the text, is remarkably clear and simple, affording a complete contrast to the harsh and involved manner of writers far more modern, and admitting generally of very literal translation. His Latin is considered by Lord Bacon as much purer than that which was in use in England, after the time of Edward I. Bac. Read. Uses. (225) 210. See Close, Quare clausum fregit, Trespass. (226) writs. A commission to a judge or justice of the superior courts of England had, from an early period, the form of a breve, or writ, and was so called. Bract. fol. 108 b, et seq. thing to be done for the furtherance of "The Register." See Registrum Brevium. justice and good order; comprising what The brevia are here arranged under two were called judicial as well as original general heads, originalia and judicialia, Termes de la Ley. Blount. comprising in the whole upwards of a thousand forms. They are individually named either from the subject-matter of them, or from one or more emphatic words of the forms themselves. In the former case, the preposition de is usually employed in designating the particular breve; thus, breve de recto, a writ of right; breve de ingressu, a writ of entry; breve de conventione, a writ of covenant, &c. Most of these writs will be found in this dictionary, under the head of DE, with the proper addition in each case. See Close writs. **Bracton observes that a breve is so termed because it briefly, and in few words, sets forth the subject-matter of the action and the claim of the demandant; (dicitur ideo breve, quia rem de qua agitur, et intentionem petentis paucis verbis breviter enarrat.) Bract. fols. 112, 413 b. Theloall describes a breve to be a formal BREVE DE RECTO. L. Lat. [L. letter or epistle of the king, written in Fr. brief de droit, Sc. brieve of richt.] A Latin on parchment, sealed with his seal, writ of right. Reg. Orig. 1. Bract. fol. directed to some judge, officer, minister or 328. So called because the words in the other subject, at the suit of the king himwrit were, quod sine dilatione plenum self, or at the complaint and suit of another rectum teneas, (that without delay you do subject, commanding or authorizing somefull right); or because the subject-matter thing contained in the said letter to be of the writ was the right (rectum) of prodone, for the reason briefly expressed there-perty in lands. Co. Litt. 115 a, 158 b. 3 in, which is to be the subject of judicial examination in some of the king's courts. Thel. Dig. lib. 1, c. 1, ¶ 4. Bl. Com. 191, 193. See Writ of right.