Prefixed to the Code, yet clearly indicating by their position and contents that they have properly no more right to be included in it than scores of other products of ecclesiastical legislation to be encountered in the canonical compilations and ancient chronicles of Spain, are ten pages of decrees and fragmentary ordinances of various Councils, purporting to relate to the election of kings and their duties, but which, in reality, are mainly taken up by edifying homilies, invocations of the Deity, and fulminations against such as venture to dispute the divine authority of the Church. These pages fairly swarm with repetitions, anachronisms, and absurdities; their diction is far more barbarous and perplexing than even that of the Code itself; and their general features strongly suggest that they may have been inserted by some ignorant monk, zealous for the superior privileges of his order. For these reasons, as well as because much of what they contain is repeated in the body of the work, they have been omitted. The translation of this ancient body of laws has been a laborious undertaking, and one to which little assistance has been afforded by the obscure Castilian version. Equivalents for many of the Latin terms do not exist in English. Some passages are of doubtful significance, others absolutely unintelligible. In not a few instances, the text is so involved that only paraphrases can be employed. Despite these serious obstacles, in the treatment of the subject, I have endeavored to observe, as far as practicable, the spirit of the original, and have preferred to render the words and expressions literally--where this can be done--rather than to make use of the terms of modern legal phraseology. PHILADELPHIA, May 1, 1908. CONTENTS. BOOK I. CONCERNING LEGAL AGENCIES. TITLE I.--_The Lawmaker._ Page I. What the Method of Making Laws Should Be 1 II. How the Lawmaker Should Act 2 III. What Should be Required of the Lawmaker 2 IV. What the Conduct of the Lawmaker Should Be in his Daily Life 2 V. How the Lawmaker Should Impart Advice 3 VI. What Manner of Speech the Lawmaker Should Use 3 VII. How the Lawmaker Should Act in Rendering Judgment 3 VIII. How the Lawmaker Should Comport Himself in Public and Private Affairs 3 IX. What Instruction it is Fitting That the Lawmaker Should Give 4 TITLE II.--_The Law._ I. What the Lawmaker Should Observe in Framing the Laws 5