written below." Pay attention, then, for two things are said which fit in with the two which follow; for this, "see to it as thou dost love thyself," refers to "that thou art there and there at such and such a time and place"; that expression, however, "and as thou dost love all thy belongings," seems to refer to this: "and that thou hast with thee these debts written below"; as if it were openly said, "thy absence, whoever thou art that receiveth a summons, unless it can be excused by causes necessary and defined by law, will redound to the peril of thy head; for thou wilt seem thus to have spurned the royal mandate, and to have acted irreverently in contempt of the royal majesty, if, being summoned concerning the matters for which thou art bounden to the king, thou dost neither come nor send one to excuse thee. But if thou have been the cause that the appended debts were not paid, then, from the farm which thou art about to pay, the other debts for which thou art summoned shall be taken; but the farm shall be completed from thy chattels and the revenues of thy estate; thou thyself, meanwhile, if the barons have decreed it, being placed in a safe place in liberal custody." When, therefore, the aforesaid summons shall have been received by the sheriff, on the very day named he shall come and show himself to the president, if he happen to be there, or to the treasurer if the president himself should not be present. Then, having saluted the greater barons, he shall Lave that day to himself, being about to return to the exchequer both on the morrow and on each day thereafter. But if, by chance, he shall neither come nor send in advance a just excuse, on the first day he shall be condemned to pay to the king one hundred shillings of silver for each county; on the next, ten =£ of silver; likewise on the third, as we have heard from those who were our predecessors, whatever movable goods he possesses shall be at the disposal of the king; but on the fourth, since now from this he is convicted of contempt for the royal majesty, he shall lie at the sole mercy of the king not only as to his property, but also as to his own person. There are those, nevertheless, who think that for the whole total a pecuniary punishment alone will suffice; in such wise, namely, that on the first day those absenting themselves should be
