to; for, by this means, we endeavor to establish reverence for human dignity, as well as to maintain faithfully the justice of God. =FLAVIUS CHINTASVINTUS, KING.= =VIII. Of Annulling the Laws of Foreign Nations.= We both permit and desire that the laws of foreign nations shall be studied for the sake of the useful knowledge that may be obtained from them, but we reject and prohibit their employment in the business of the courts. For although they may be couched in eloquent language, they abound in difficulties; and so long as the methods, principles and precepts contained in this body of laws suffice for the purposes of justice, we are unwilling that anything more be borrowed, either from the Roman laws, or from the institutions of foreigners. =THE GLORIOUS FLAVIUS RECESVINTUS, KING.= =IX. No One shall presume to have in his Possession another Book of Laws except this which has just been Published.= No one of our subjects, whosoever, shall presume to offer to a judge as authority, in any legal proceeding, any book of laws excepting this one, or an authorized translation of the same; and any person who does this shall pay thirty pounds of gold to the treasury.[6] And if any judge shall not at once destroy such a prohibited book when it is offered him, he shall undergo the above named penalty. But we decree that those shall be exempt from the operation of this law, who have cited former laws, not for the overthrow of ours, but in confirmation of causes which have previously been determined. =THE GLORIOUS FLAVIUS CHINTASVINTUS, KING.= =X. Concerning Fast Days and Festivals, during which no Legal Business shall be Transacted.= No litigation shall be commenced on Sunday, for religion should take precedence of all legal matters, and upon that day no one shall presume to subject another to annoyances either for the trial of a case, or for the payment of a debt; nor shall any person be permitted to bring a suit at Easter; that is, for fifteen days, the seven which precede the celebration of that festival, and the seven which follow it. The days of Christmas, of the Circumcision, of the Epiphany, of the Ascension, and of Pentecost shall be observed with the same reverence; and, in like manner, during the harvest festivals, from the fifteenth Kalends of August, to the fifteenth Kalends of September, the same pious conformity shall be required. But in the province of Carthage, by reason of the constant ravages of the locust, we decree that the harvest festival shall be celebrated from the fifteenth Kalends of July to the fifteenth Kalends of August; and, on account of the vintage, from the fifteenth Kalends of October to the fifteenth Kalends of November.