THE KING'S MIRROR 311 



sold justice for money, he should follow that profit to 

 destruction. But when Stephen was questioned whether 

 this charge was true or not, he denied the accusation 

 and declared that he could not remember ever having 

 taken fee or gift for justice. Now since Stephen had 

 denied the charge, it was ordered that Tarquin himself 

 should be called to straighten the matter. When Tarquin 

 came, he declared that this was not a true charge against 

 Stephen; for he asserted that Stephen had never taken 

 fees for justice so far as he knew. "But having come 

 there a stranger," said Tarquin, " I thought that I 

 might need the good will of such a man and gave him 

 the horse on my own volition and not at his request." 

 When the accusers heard that they would surely fail 

 in this indictment too, they cried even more loudly, 

 saying that they had a new charge against Stephen, 

 much greater than either of the others. They asserted 

 that he had arbitrarily and illegally saved three men 

 from the death penalty, whom both law and equity and 

 a just sentence would have condemned. When Stephen 

 was asked whether he was guilty of this charge, he ad- 

 mitted that he had saved the men from death, but de- 

 clared that he had always regretted having saved them 

 by arbitrary and illegal means. Then the Judge decreed 

 that, if he had rescued men from death by violence 

 whom justice had condemned to die, he must suffer 

 death for it, unless he would do penance where the 

 offence was committed. Then the priest Justin asked 

 Saint Lawrence to help in Stephen's defense, seeing 

 that he had forgiven him the matter that he had against 

 him and no indictment had been found true except the 



