308 THE KING'S MIRROR 



a city in Ireland called Themar; * and I shall repeat 

 that story in part, if you wish. This was the leading 

 city in Ireland and the king had his chief residence 

 there; and no one knew of a finer city on earth. Though 

 the inhabitants were heathen at that time and did not 

 know the true faith about God, they were firm in the 

 belief that there could be no deviation from righteous- 

 ness in judgment on the part of the king who dwelt in 

 Themar; for no decision was pronounced in Ireland 

 which they could consider just before the king at The- 

 mar had passed upon it. Now at one time it came to 

 pass that a case was brought before the king who sat 

 in Themar in which his friends and kinsmen were in- 

 terested on the one side, while men whom the king dis- 

 liked had a part on the other side; and the king shaped 

 the verdict more according to his own will than to 

 justice. And this soon became evident, for three days 

 later the royal hall and all the other houses that the 

 king occupied were overturned, so that the foundations 

 pointed upward, while the walls and the battlements 

 pointed down into the earth; and the inhabitants im- 

 mediately began to desert the city and it was never 

 occupied after that. Now from these accounts you are 

 to conclude that God permits such things to be re- 

 ^vealed to men, because He wishes them to understand 

 \ that such an outcome is daily prepared in a spiritual 

 * and invisible manner for men who refuse to render just 

 and right judgments, if they are appointed to determine 

 the suits of men. 



C.xi. 



