The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-05-17

those pertaining to the crimes of murder,
theft, arson, etc. Let US take a brief
glance through the three books in turn.
The royal court consisted Of twenty-four
Oncers, sixteen Of whom waited upon his
majesty, while the other eight attended
upon the queen. These dignitaries were
entitled by law to receive suit of woollen
garments from the king and a suit of linen
from the queen three times a year, at
Easter, at WhitSuntide, and at Christmas.
Having thus provided for the decencies
of the court, the first book goes on to deal
with the worth" of each member there
of. Naturally the king is the most prec-
ious parsonage.
We are told that his value IS his "sa-
raads' threefold a saraad being the salts
faction allowed by the law for injury
There IS mentioned the King of AberfraW
whose saraad was "a hundred cows for
every cantref ii. e., 100 townshps) in his
kingdom, and white bull with red ears
to every 100 COWS, and a rod of gold of
the same length as himself and as thick
as his little finger, and a plate of gold
as broad as his face and as thick as the
nail OF ploughman who has been a
ploughman for seven years" Such was
| the penalty for injuring the king, and
such threefold was his personal value.
The queen also had her saraad, and it
might be claimed by her from any one
violating her protection, striking her a
blow, or snatching anything out of her
hand. 1t was only a third of the kings,
however and was TO be paid without gold
or silver, as though a feminine fondness
Tor those precious metals might tempt Rer
to provoke insult.
First among the officials of the court
was the chief of the household. The
priest who ranked second received court
ly Difference as the representative of the
church. Tor the law reads, He - the
King contessor, to whom the king is 10
rise ana 20 SIT down after him, and to
I hold his sleeves while he wash himself :"
The fifth on the list was the court
Judge, whose worth was reckoned at only
six kline and six score of silver a value 70
D n "a
and the very lowest on the list, the can.
die bearer. He had to administer Justice
without Zee TO everybody at the palace.
ana 10 snare with the other judges the
twenty-tour pence which he received for
each lawsuit about land.
Next on the list are the groom and the
page. Ihe latter was to make the roval
bed TO carry the kings messages and 10
take care of his personal treasures. For
these services the law allowed him his
off bedclothes.
The duty of the candle bearer was to
hold candle opposite the dish while his
majesty was eating, and to walk before
him when he retired to his chamber he
! the palace on state occasions, and as a
/ perqaisite he was to have 1.-The wax he
| may bite off their tops"
Next follows the laws governing the
/ queens eight attendants, and then We
/ are made aware of the fact that there
/ are eleven more officers, termd Officers
.
/ the groom of the rein, second the foot
( holder, whose important duty ii was to
/ hold the kings feet in his lap from the
time he began the banquet until he fell
/ asleep.
He also had to rub the king" and see
! TO it that his royal master did not doze
! over some prOsy after-dinner speech.
| The churchs right of sanctuary is dealt
! with at some length. The offender under
! its protection was allowed only Ito walk
] about within the churchyard and the
! burial ground" If he went outside these
| boundaries, he rendered himself open to
/ the grasp of an outraged law.
! We now come to book the second, which
| as l have stated before, deals chiefly with
| the laws concerning women. The first
| clause reads rather curiOusly. 1t pro-
vides that If a woman be given in mar
/ rage, she is to abide by her agweddi'
/ cher dowe) unto the end of the seventh
! year, and if there be three nights want
/ ing Of the seventh current year, and they
/ separate, let them share into two portions
! everything belonging to them" Then, lest