Page:Secret History of the Court of the Emperor Justinian 1674.djvu/83

 : Again, if any Man desired the reviving of any Law which he had revoked, he restored it without any difficulty, as done in War, when one recovers what he lost, by what means he can, be it in whose hands it will; so that in his Decrees there was nothing steady or just, all was full of error and uncertainty, and the Scales of Justice inclined not to that side where the right and propriety was, but where the presents were greatest; which were carried publickly into the Court where the controversie was to be decided, to be paid by way of advance, some time to the Judge, and some time to the other Magistrates; yet it was not without trouble, that the Media­tors sound time to present the Petitions of their Clients to the Emperor, or give him the true state of their affairs; for they were forced to make use of many false accusations, and bribe him well into the bargain. Being easily over­reached, they applied to their several parties, and not acquainting them what had passed be­twixt them and the Emperor, they drew from them vast sums of Money, and no body durst to oppose. The very Soldiers of the Guards which were to attend the Judges in the Court of the Palace, forced from them what judg­ments they pleased; so that no body was kept to his duty, but every man followed the im­pulse of his own fancy as his passion inspired. All Officers had lost their authority and places, and their very names were not suffered to be continued in their Registers. In a word, the Roman Empire was ordered as it had been ­verned