No objection can be raised from the saying: ‘For the transgression of a land many are the princes thereof;’[251] for that verse speaks of the princes, not of the leaders and the judges. How can we ignore self-evident facts? For if the leaders are good, it is better that they should be many and not one; if they are bad, one left free to his lusts is more dangerous than many. I therefore think that kings were at first set up to rule not by the people’s elections, but by force: the one that was stronger prevailed; as it is written: ‘Let us go up against Judah, and vex it, and set up a king in the midst of it.’[252] Even these were only appointed as a matter of trust, to serve the people; but they made themselves masters, as if God, who is blessed, gave them the earth and the fulness thereof, and they leave it as an inheritance to their children after them and to their children’s children for ever, as if it were a plot of land which one acquires for money. This cursed plague has spread so much that sometimes a man arises, and rules alone, and governs according to his imagination. This, however, is not alike in all kingdoms; for in some of them the king does not have so much power in the administration. But the better of the two is the one that does not yet exist. XLI. SOLOMON IBN VERGA [Spanish historian and physician who flourished during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. He was compelled to flee to Turkey, where he wrote his _Shebet Yehudah_ (Rod of Judah), which gives an account of the Jewish persecutions in various countries. This book is valuable for Jewish folk-lore, though not always trustworthy as a historical source.] A Jew Is Accused of Murdering a Christian, But His Innocence Is Proved[253] In the time of the righteous king Alfonso the Elder, some men came before the judges of the country, and related that they had seen a Christian enter the house of a Jew on the eve of Passover, and subsequently heard him exclaim, saying: ‘Save me, O Christians!’ The judges then sent some men, who went to search in the house of the Jew; but they did not find anything. Whereupon the judges said: ‘A similar accusation was made last year, but the falsehood thereof became apparent. Now, ye accusers, why do ye walk after vanity, and why do ye harass these poor people, although there is no violence in their hands?’ The people arose with an uproarious sound, and said: ‘Shall not the judge of all the land do right? We shall go to the king, for he will bring our judgment to light.’