14 KING. 



hireling might approach his person : the lords in 

 ■waiting, with the state parasol, and the ostrich feather 

 fans, were princes of the blood ; his other attendants 

 were invariably priests. The royal time was filled 

 and measured by routine : laws were laid down in 

 the holy books for the order and nature of his occupa- 

 tions. At daybreak he examined and despatched his 

 correspondence ; he then put on his robes and attended 

 divine service in the temple. Extracts were read from 

 those holy books which contained the sayings and 

 actions of distinguished men, and these were followed 

 by a sermon from the High Priest. He extolled 

 the virtues of the reigning sovereign, but criticised 

 severely the lives of those who had preceded him ; a 

 post mortem examination to which the king knew 

 that he would be subjected in his turn. 



He was forbidden to commit any kind of excess : he 

 was restricted to a plain diet of veal and goose, and to 

 a measured quantity of wine. The laws hung over 

 him day and night ; they governed his public and 

 private actions ; they followed him even to the recesses 

 of his chamber, and appointed a set time for the 

 embraces of his queen. He could not punish a single 

 person except in accordance with the code ; the judges 

 took oath before the king that they would disobey the 

 king if he ordered them to do anything contrary to 

 law. The ministry were responsible for the actions of 

 their master, and they guarded their own safety. They 

 made it impossible for him to forfeit that reverence 

 and affection which the ignorant and religious always 

 entertain for their anointed king. He was adored 

 as a god, when living, and when he died he was 

 mourned by the whole nation as if each man had lost 

 a well-beloved child. During seventy-two days the 



