nevertheless, to spare rather than to punish those whom he had beaten; in order that, even against their will, they should see his kingdom grow great. May that king, therefore, long live glorious and happy, and for the grace granted may he merit grace from on High. May his noble offspring also live, subject to their father and not unlike to him: and, since they are born to rule over nations, may they learn, by their father's and by their own example, how glorious it is "to spare the subjugated and to vanquish rebels." But let us proceed with what we have undertaken. But if thou dost wish to be more fully instructed concerning these and other mighty acts of his, examine, if it please thee, the book of which we spoke above (Tricolumnis). When, therefore, after the shipwrecked condition of the kingdom, peace had been reestablished, the king strove to renew again the times of his grandfather; and, choosing discreet men, he divided the kingdom into six parts, so that the chosen justices whom we call itinerant might go through it and restore the laws which had been abandoned. His envoys, therefore, being ready with their advice in the different counties, and exhibiting the fulness of justice to those who considered themselves wronged, assuaged the labours and expenses of the poor. It came about, moreover, in the case of these people, that the different misdemeanours were, for the most part, punished in different ways according to the nature of the matters, so that some made corporal, others, pecuniary amends. The pecuniary penalties of the delinquents, then, are carefully noted in the rolls of the itinerant justices, and when the exchequer sits they are handed over to the treasury in the presence of all. The justices, moreover, must see to it that they deliver to the treasurer correct rolls and ones arranged in order; for, having once handed them over, it will not be lawful even for the justices themselves to change one iota, even in a matter on which all the justices are of one mind.
D. In so far it is to be wondered at that, since they are the authors of their writings, and nothing is collected except by their own industry and labour, they may not, even when they consent together as to anything, change their own writing.
