was long and minute and abounded in promises to support and defend the interests of his subjects. When invested with the insignia of royalty, he was admonished “_Rex ejus eris si recta facis; si autem, non facis, non eris._” “Thou shalt be king so long as thou dost do right; but if thou do not do right, thou shalt no longer be king.” The legal and political events of the Visigothic domination are written in the annals of its ecclesiastical councils, which designate the chief events of every reign. These were of three kinds, national, provincial, diocesan. Of the national councils there were nineteen in all; one of which was held in the fifth century, two in the sixth, and sixteen in the seventh; all, after the sixth council, being held at Toledo, which gave to that venerable city vast and permanent prestige and influence in the affairs of the hierarchy and the kingdom. The national councils assembled at the order of the king, who also presided over them; and this prerogative, strange to say, was assumed and exercised, without remonstrance from Christian prelates, by the emirs of Moorish Spain. These ecclesiastical convocations which have been frequently referred to as the first representative popular assemblies of Europe, were very far from deserving that title. While, originally, the laity were admitted to their deliberations and participated, to some extent, in the discussion of secular matters, the clergy, at all times, were supreme in power, as they were superior in learning and eloquence. By degrees, laymen were excluded; the secular element lost its influence; there was no representation, even theoretical, either of the nobility or of the people; the sovereign was but the presiding officer of the assembly; legislation was wholly inspired by the priesthood; and the authority of the clergy became absolutely paramount. The State became synonymous with the Council; the theory of popular representation had vanished; and, while the monarch still assumed the name and state of royalty, the government of the once independent and liberty-loving Goths was, in fact, purely and essentially theocratic, and the clergy, from being teachers, advisers, and pious mediators, were now the absolute rulers of the Peninsula. This predominance, progressive from the very beginning, was felt and acknowledged in everything, whether of greater or minor importance, which affected the welfare of the kingdom. Although the bishops sometimes imposed upon the weakness of their kings, their rule was, in the main, beneficent; and the theocratic character, which they imparted to the government, elicited the respect of the nobility, and the reverence of the people. These wise and pious legislators contributed, by their tact and piety, to the thorough fusion of the victorious and subjugated races. They confirmed the royal power. They stifled conspiracy, and suppressed rebellion. They crushed the treasonable aspirations of many a daring aspirant to the throne.