Page:The Labyrinth of the World and the Paradise of the Heart.pdf/264

260 their superiors and rulers they could gain their favour, they should be allowed to enjoy it.

14. After these had been dismissed, there remained the jurists (councillors of the kings and lords, doctors of laws, advocates, judges, and so forth) who complained of the incompleteness of written laws, in consequence of which not all the disputes that arose among men could be decided (though they already noted more than a hundred thousand cases). Thus it happened that they were either unable to maintain perfect order among men, or—if they added somewhat out of their own minds for the purpose of expounding the law and ending strife—the unwise considered this to be a misrepresentation of the law, and a perversion of their case; thence they incurred dislike, and litigation increased among them. They therefore demanded either advice as to their behaviour, or protection against the forward judgments of men. Then, after they had been told to withdraw, the matter was discussed; but it would be long to tell what the pleading of each of the queen's councillors was. Therefore will I only tell of the decision that was made known to the jurists after they had again been called forward—to wit, that H.R.M.