Bracton

“ The arrangement, however, of the two works is different, and but a small proportion of Bracton’s work is incorporated in Britton. The work is entitled in an early MS. of the 14th century, which was once in the possession of Selden, and is now in the Cambridge university library, Summa de legibus Anglie que vocatur Bretone ”

“ And this is not only consonant to the principles of nature, of liberty, of reason, and of society, but has always been esteemed an express part of the common law of England, even when prerogative was at the highest. “The king,” saith Bracton [3] , who wrote under Henry III, “ought not to be subject to man, but to God, and to the law; for the law maketh the king. Let the king therefore render to the law, what the law has invested in him with regard to others; dominion, and power: for he is not truly king, where will and pleasure rules, and not the law.” ”

“ The costs of a writ purchased were first allowed to a successful demandant by the Statute of Gloucester, 1278. The counterpart of the writ (contrabreve) was usually filed in court with the custos brevium. Through the Norman period the prerogative of issuing writs seems to have been undisputed. Glanvill's precedents did not exhaust all possible forms, for in the time of Bracton, in the 13th century, it was still possible to frame new writs at the pleasure of the crown. ”

“ The bibliography of Bracton may be put into very small compass. A considerable portion of the treatise found its way into print in 1557, in the shape of quotations made by Sir William Staundeford in his 'Plees del Coron.' The first printed edition of the entire work was published by Richard Tottell in 1569 (fol.) , with a preface by one T. N. (whose identity has never been determined) , in which credit is taken for a careful recension of the text. The next edition (4to) appeared in 1640, being a mere reprint of that of 1569. ”

“ Brackett and George White sat in a conclave together one evening soon after his arrival. They were discussing the obstinacy of Simon Dodge in deferring to make a will in favor of his disinterested son-in-law.
“Can’t you persuade him to do it, Mr. Brackett?” asked White.
“I’ve tried my best, and failed,” said Brackett. “You see the old man’s dreadfully obstinate when he sets about it. It’s my opinion he’s afraid to make a will for fear it will hasten his death.” ”

“ He continued to take the assizes in the south-west, and in 1267 he was a member of a commission of prelates, barons and judges appointed to hear the complaints of the disinherited partisans of Simon de Montfort. In 1259 he became rector of Combe-in-Teignhead, in 1261 rector of Barnstaple, in 1264 archdeacon of Barnstaple, and, having resigned the archdeaconry, chancellor of Exeter cathedral ”

“ Fallon's hard jaw set. "I can't go any longer without sleep."
Bjarnsson's cragged face was flushed and greasy behind his helmet, but his eyes were like glittering frost.
"All the whisky and the women," he whispered. "They make you soft, Fallon. The girl would have been better."
A flashing glimpse of Joan as she had looked in the car that morning crossed the eye of Fallon's mind—the tumbled fair hair and the sunlight warm on throat and cheek, and her voice saying, "You wouldn't be bad, Webb ... so lazy and so hell-fired selfish!" ”

“ Where do you people come from? What are you doing here? What's all the mystery about?"
"Don't be impatient, Michael. It can't all be told at once." She had been listening intently to what the men were saying, and now she rose again. "I think it's time I took a hand in this. Men always talk in circles."
She joined the group. Trehearne finished off his wine and poured more from a queer stone bottle. ”

“ Not to stand up in open Council and tell exactly how and why Yann died."
Kerrel's voice answered him, and he could not tell which of the helmeted shapes was speaking, the shapes with the shadowed faces. It was maddening not to know.
"And was I wrong, Trehearne? Could you stand up in open Council and say that I was wrong to try it?"
"Listen," said the officer. "I'm not judge and I'm not jury. I was sent out by the Council to bring these men in, and I'm going to do it. For God's sake, Kerrel, stop trying to carry the weight of the universe on your shoulders. No man is that big. ”

“ He had her locked in her cabin again and went back to the bridge. Joris was scowling at the projection of the microfilm chart of the planet.
"There," he said, and pointed to a huge emptiness. "She'll be safe there until they pick her up—there's no predatory life in these deserts." He glanced up at Trehearne. "Good man," he said. "Me, I was beaten."
Trehearne gave him a wry smile. "Me, I bluffed. From here on, Joris, it's all yours. Where's Edri?"
"Shut in his cabin with Arrin. They know the general sector, clear out at the Galaxy's edge. ”

“ In the midst of the confusion of voices following the announcement of Brackett’s heroic charge and fall, there was a shrill scream, the paper fell from the nerveless hand of the woman in poor clothes, and she fell, white and insensible, to the floor.
“She saw her boy’s name in the list of killed,” said one who had been looking over [47] her shoulder as she read. Others lifted the poor, limp body and carried the stricken woman into the fresh air to await her sad return to consciousness. ”

“ The blows on the hull grew fewer, farther between. Fallon began to breath again.
Einar Bjarnsson relaxed, just a little. His voice came muffled by his helmet. "The worst, Fallon—we're through it."
Fallon's throat was as dry as his face was wet. "But how?"
"Sometimes, in the deeps, one meets creatures. Hungry creatures, as large even as this ship. So I prepared the hull. That switch transforms us into a travelling electric shock, strong enough to discourage almost anything. I hoped it would get us through."
Thinking of what might have happened, Fallon shut his jaw hard. ”

“ The first non-Vardda to fly the stars, the first crack in the monopoly."
Joris shook his head. "You can be put away so quickly and quietly that no one will ever hear of you."
"Good," said Trehearne. "Put me away. Put away all the officers of the ship. Put away all the passengers. Put away all the crew. That's a lot of people to keep quiet."
Shairn broke in triumphantly. "Yes, Joris! How are you going to silence me?"
"And," said Edri, "me."
Joris looked from one to the other and back again, his brows drawn angrily together. But he said nothing. Kerrel leaned over the table. ”

“ Brackenhurst prided itself, indeed, on being a most well-bred and distinguished neighbourhood; people of note grew as thick there as heather or whortleberries. What puzzled him more was the abstruser question, where on earth the stranger could have come from so suddenly. Philip had glanced up the road and down the road just two minutes before, and was prepared to swear when he withdrew his eyes not a soul loomed in sight in either direction. Whence, then, could the man in the grey suit have emerged? ”

“ No matter how much Caron of Mars would like to get his claws on this radium."
He took Jill by the shoulders and shook her, laughing.
"Three weeks, girl, that's all. First crops ready for harvest, first pay-ore coming out of the mines. In three weeks my permanent charter will have to be granted, according to agreement, and then....
"Jill," he added solemnly, "we're seeing the birth of a world."
"That's what frightens me." Jill glanced upward as the first flare of lightning struck down, followed by a crash of thunder that shook the dome.
"So much can happen at a birth. ”

“ Braxton turned in his sleep.
‘I resumed my seat, and... and... sat up staring and blinking, at a tall man with red hair. “I must have fallen asleep,” I said. “Yessir,” he replied; and his toneless voice touched in me one or two springs of memory: I was at Keeb; this was the footman who looked after me. But—why wasn’t I in bed? Had I—no, surely it had been no nightmare. Surely I had SEEN Braxton on that white bed.
‘The footman was impassively putting away my smoking-suit. ”

“ Brackenburg. Dearest, for Heaven's sake, what wouldst thou do?
Clara. Come with me, Brackenburg! Thou canst not know the people, we are certain to rescue him; for what can equal their love for him? Each feels, I could swear it, the burning desire to deliver him, to avert danger from a life so precious, and to restore freedom to the most free. Come! A voice only is wanting to call them together. In their souls the memory is still fresh of all they owe him, and well they know that his mighty arm alone shields them from destruction. For his sake, for their own sake, they must peril everything. ”

“ But young Brackett took the remark as a compliment, as it was intended, and answered, “Oh, yes, I’ve been about a good deal—up Boston way and that sort of thing—Benton and different cities. But I live at Southport. My father owns a good deal of the place, you see.”
“Well, I’m glad to know you, Mr. Brackett,” said the stranger, with a renewed show of cordiality. “My name is Carleton. I come from Boston, too. I am just living around at any place I take a fancy to for the summer. Oh, by the way, I came here to look at some boats. Do you know of a good one over your way that a man might buy?” ”

“ Then we will examine the dining-room together.'
Lady Brackenstall was no ordinary person. Seldom have I seen so graceful a figure, so womanly a presence, and so beautiful a face. She was a blonde, golden-haired, blue-eyed, and would no doubt have had the perfect complexion which goes with such colouring, had not her recent experience left her drawn and haggard. Her sufferings were physical as well as mental, for over one eye rose a hideous, plum-coloured swelling, which her maid, a tall, austere woman, was bathing assiduously with vinegar and water. ”

“ Harry Brackett got an answer to his letter, next morning, and the secret it contained filled him with expectation and excitement.
“A capital scheme for us, he says,” exclaimed Harry Brackett, tearing the letter into little pieces and casting them to the winds. “I wonder what it is? I’m to meet him in the pasture to-morrow night. Cracky! but I guess something’s going to happen. I’d like to get even with Jack Harvey and Henry Burns for once. I’ll dare to do anything that Mr. Carleton will, too; for he’ll get the blame, if there’s any trouble, because he’s a man.” ”

“ Heath said, "Do the high gods stoop to tread on ants and worms? We don't deserve such honor, she and I. We're weak and even the Moonfire can't give us strength."
He saw the flicker of thought in Broca's face and went on. "You're all-powerful, there's nothing you can't do. Why burden yourself with a mate too weak to worship you? Create another Alor, Broca! Create a goddess worthy of you!" ”

“ Heath answered. "The Guardians of the Upper Seas. They will crush a moving ship to splinters and eat the crew."
He glanced back at the Lahal. She, too, had come to a dead stop. The canny Vakor had scented the danger also.
"We'll have to wait," said Heath, "until it goes away."
They waited. The huge shape of darkness sucked and floundered in the weed and was in no hurry to go.
Broca sat staring at Heath. He was deep in fever and his eyes were not sane. He began to mutter to himself, incoherent ramblings in which only the name Alor and the word Moonfire were distinguishable. ”

“ He led the way down the muddy road, and Trehearne followed.
Night came. The glorious sky of the Cluster crashed down on them, sown to bursting with stars as bright as moons. The crystalline trees took on opaline fires. The hut walls glittered. Around the two Vardda gathered a crowd of sloe-eyed children, silent and solemn, with hides of dusky green. Women watched them from the doorways. Human enough and pretty enough too, the younger ones, sleek and olive-colored, wearing bright silks from Llyrdis about their hips and baubles in their hair. ”

“ Caron, at least, couldn't follow him in the dark without exhaust flares as guides.
They swept across the wind-torn plain, into the mouth of the valley where Gray had worked, braking hard to a stop under the cables.
"You might have got past them," said Jill.
"One chance in a hundred."
Her mouth twisted. "Afraid to take it?"
He smiled harshly. "I haven't yet reached the stage where I kill women. You'll be safe here—the men will find you in the morning. I'm going back, alone."
"Safe!" she said bitterly. "For what? No matter what happens, the Project is ruined." ”

“ Jill's fingers caught his arm. "Don't, Gray! The Project...."
Caron faced her. "The Project is doomed in any case. My men carried out my secondary instructions. All the cables in your valley have been cut. There is a storm now ready to break.
"In fifteen minutes or so, everything will be destroyed, except the domes. Regrettable, but...." He shrugged.
Jill's temper blazed, choking her so that she could hardly speak.
"Look at him, Gray," she whispered. "That's what you're so proud of being. A cynic, who believes in nothing but himself. Look at him!" ”

“ Joan put both hands on his shoulders and looked straight into his eyes. "What kind of a man are you, Webb Fallon?"
"God knows," he said. "Where do you keep your boat, Bjarnsson?"
"In a private steel-and-concrete building at Wilmington. Some of the improvements are of interest to certain people. I keep them locked safely away. Or so I thought."
Fallon rose stiffly. "Kashimo didn't come in a car, that's certain. He'd have been arrested on sight. Any place for a plane to land near here?" ”