A wrlt anciently call-ed “breve de bono et malo” addressed to the sheriff to inqnlre whether a man committed to prison upon suspicion of murder were committed on Just cause of suspicion, or only upon malice and ill will; aud if, upon the inquisition, it were found that he was not guilty, then there issued another writ to the sheriff to ball him. Reg. orig. 133
Source: Black’s Law Dictionary 2nd Ed (1910)
