244 On the Laws and Law-books of the Armenians. [No. 111. 



public acts of this monarch. " \*puiuuipuipu *fi mufti uip.gtu.- 

 uhy hpuiL-UMpiunu 'A jpuinuijzu II. muil-UMUU % 'pL* **{% 



" Judices in .aula regia, judices in oppidis villisque statuit." Lib. 

 ii. Cap. vn. Where there are judges, there must of necessity be courts 

 of judicature, in which judges and arbiters hear causes, and administer 

 justice by the employment of officers and subordinates, without whom 

 judicial affairs cannot be properly managed and conducted. But, that 

 there were actually courts of judicature in existence in Armenia, we 

 have conclusive and satisfactory evidence in the work of that ancient 

 historian. S^A'-'/fo "- Q-WL.uin.uitj) u-u L. ftt-pui^utb^pt-p 

 utUMuq turL.iiiuduuiLuiuni.brqj Ll ^uiunt-pa ^utLuin.uibitL. m 

 T^-hruiuq tc ryuiyuhiq^ uijJ-lT uiil. utsa •u.muiunu uiubluiu 

 qpnt-qutq iSuiuitruiuoy tfuiuuit-uftirL. tip 'A ufruf^ujfyiuis 

 UiqiuuinLp-hu (^uuifuuiputpnL.tru\ LuutjuiquiLnnL.fi J im Ql 

 " Quibus adhuc devicis at provinces, atque etiam rebus sigillatim 

 domesticis, publicisque controversiis, ac fcederibus, scripta extant apud 

 nos innumera historiarum volumina, ac praecipue dum successio mansit 

 libera." Lib. i. Cap. n. It is evident that such codes of laws and 

 instruments regarding which disputes and differences might have na- 

 turally arisen, by the lapse of several years, among heirs, coheirs, and 

 legatees, were carefully kept in courts of judicature, conformably to the 

 order of the government of the country. This has been the common and 

 invariable practice of civilized nations, in all ages and in all countries. 



We have also incontrovertible proofs of the existence of law-books in 

 Armenia during the reign of the Bagratidse, in the Latin translation of 

 the code complied and prepared under the auspices of the Armenian 

 king, Johannes the Bagratian, of which mention was made above. 

 The classification of the chapters of this code is preceded by this sen- 

 tence : — " The Armenian kings lay down this model of justice for the 

 guidance of their judges." — Then follow, in separate chapters, laws 

 respecting the adjustment of disputes arising from wills — laws enacted 

 for the settlement of differences among married parties — and laws in- 

 tended for the correction of offenders and the punishment of criminals. 



In the face of all these evidences, one cannot but be greatly astonish- 

 ed in reading the introduction to the code of Mechithar Ghosh, where- 



