example of the law ot negligence appears in the clause providing that if a free servant lose a horse of the master, he must pay the latter its value. If a master iail to pay his free servant the wages agreed upon, he can be fined for the benefit of the fisc and also be made to pay the wages due. The commercial law is accorded very great consideration. Among the provisions under that head may be mentioned: "Creditors whose debts are denied are obliged to support their claims by witnesses, and in case of recovery' are entitled to the amount claimed together with damages in the nature of a penalty." "In cases of money lending between mer chants, the debt being denied, no witnesses are necessary, but the oath of the alleged debor shall suffice to relieve him of liability." "Where an insolvent debtor's goods are sold for the benefit of his creditors, a foreign merchant who has supplied some of the goods in the induced belief that the debtor was solvent shall be given preference in the distribution. "If a merchant receive merchandise or money on deposit and the same be lost by force majeure, as by flood, fire, or act of the public enemy, he shall not be liable to arrest, but he shall be entitled to a reasonable delay to repay the value of the goods or money lost." "Every merchant who by reason of prodi gality, drunkenness, or negligence permits goods to be injured while they are deposited with him shall be subject to arrest at the in stance of his creditors, and if they do not agree to accord him time, he shall be sold as a slave unless he at once satisfy the claims against him." "If a slave obtain money by representing himself as a freeman, his master shall reim burse the innocent victim of the fraud or re nounce his right of ownership in the slave." "Every master who authorizes his slave to engage in commerce shall be liable for the commercial debts thus contracted by the slave." "If a person claim to have left objects on deposit with another, the latter's denial un
der oath that he received the articles is suffi cient to discharge him." Interest for borrowed money at the rate of 40 per cent, is recognized and made pay able every four months. Laws of Succession: "If a man of low es tate die without issue, his property escheats to the public treasury. If he leave male is sue, they shall take it. If he leave only fe male issue, they shall inherit, in proportion, with the public treasury, if they be of mar riageable age." "The Prince shall have no rights in the succession of his boyars nor in that of the officers of his military guard. If they die without male issue, their daughters shall in herit." (The Code does not say whether the treasury or the next of kin shall take in case boyars and officers of the guard die without issue.) Wills are to be faithfully executed, and many provisions cover the respective rights of widows and children where the former re marry. In case of disagreement among chil dren, the affair is to be left to the tribunal of the Prince, whose right is recognized to dele gate his powers as the fountain of justice of the empire to his civil or military officers. The greater part of the Code is devoted to criminal law and criminal procedure, the most important feature of which is the provision that in every trial the prosecutor must confront the ac cused before twelve citizens from the vicin age, sworn to decide the questions of fact "ac cording to their convictions and the light of their conscience." The officer invested with the power of judge at the trial determines the penalty and orders its infliction. This feature of the sworn jury indicates how much the Scandinavians had impressed their insti.-, tutions and -laws upon the Slavs. Saxo, the Danish historian (1130-1204), says that in the eighth century Ragnar Hodbrok, King of Denmark, was the first to establish a criminal tribunal with twelve sworn jurors. (Historia Regum Heroumque Danorutn.) THE recently discovered Code of Ham murabi, is the subject of an interesting art
