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FLE FLEETWOOD, WILLIAM. The Office of a Justice of the Peace. 8vo. London. 1658. FLEETWOOD, EVERARD. An Inquiry into tlie Customary Estates and Tenant Rights of those who hold lands of Church and other foundations, by the tenure of three lives and twenty-one years ; with some Considerations for Restraining excessive Fines, Bvo. Dublin. 1748. FLEMING, J. Irish and English Statutes, relating to His Ma- jesty's Revenue in Ireland ; with Notes. 4to. Dublin, J74I. FLETA; sen Commentarius Juris Anglicani, sub Edw. I., ab ano- nymo Conscriptus ; editus, cum Dissertatione Historica ad eun- dem, per J. Seldenum. 4to. London. 1647,1685. The author of this Treatise is unknown. He is supposed to have been one of the judges who was imprisoned for mal-practices dur- ing the reign of Edward I. By the preface we are informed that it was written in the Fleet prison, and from this circumstance was called Fleta, but the author did not choose to disclose his name. He evidently wrote with Glanville and Bracton before him, the latter of whom he often copies or abiidges. Fleta, when written, was a concise account of the whole English law as it then prevailed, with the practice of the Courts, the forms of writs, and the explanation of law terms. Mr. Sel- den first called the public attention to this ancient treatise, and was instrumental in procuring its publication, to which he prefixed a disser- tation, abounding in varied antiquarian learning. With Fieta, is found an essay called Fet Assavoir, supposed to be written about the same time as the former, but by whom is also unknown. It is in French and relates to the Practice of tiie Courts. Unfortunately, both of the complete edi- tions of Fleta abound in errors, and though several hundred were cor- rected in the second edition, it is quite as faulty as Bracton. " The comparative merit of Glanville, Bracton, Fleta, and Britton, appears very difTerent in the eyes of a modern reader. The copiousness, learning, and profoundness of Bracton, place him very high above the rest. It is to him that we owe Fleta and Britton, which would, proba- bly, never have existed without him. To him we are indebted for a thorough discussion of the principles and grounds of our old law, which had before lain in obscurity. But while we give to Bracton the praise that is due to him as the father of legal learning, we must not forget what Bracton, as well as posterity, owe to others. Britton delivered some of this writer's matter in the proper language of the law, and Fleta illustrated some of bis obscurities; while Glanville, who led the way, is still entitled to the veneration always due to those who first open the 314