ror above all human restraints,
and to leave his conscience and reason as the sacred measure of his
conduct. 2. A similar dependence was implied in the decrees of the
senate, which, in every reign, defined the titles and powers of an
elective magistrate. But it was not before the ideas, and even the
language, of the Romans had been corrupted, that a royal law, [39] and
an irrevocable gift of the people, were created by the fancy of Ulpian,
or more probably of Tribonian himself; [40] and the origin of Imperial
power, though false in fact, and slavish in its consequence, was
supported on a principle of freedom and justice. "The pleasure of the
emperor has the vigor and effect of law, since the Roman people, by the
royal law, have transferred to their prince the full extent of their
own power and sovereignty." [41] The will of a single man, of a
child perhaps, was allowed to prevail over the wisdom of ages and
the inclinations of millions; and the degenerate Greeks were proud to
declare, that in his hands alone the arbitrary exercise of legislation
could be safely deposited. "What interest or passion," exclaims
Theophilus in the court of Justinian, "can reach the calm and sublime
elevation of the monarch? He is already master of the lives and fortunes
of his subjects; and those who have incurred his displeasure are already
numbered with the dead." [42] Disdaining the language of flattery, the
historian may confess, that in questions of private jurisprudence, the
absolute sovereign of a great empire can seldom be influenced by any
personal considerations. Virtue, or even reason, will suggest to his
impartial mind, that he is the guardian of peace and equity, and that
the interest of society is inseparably connected with his own. Under the
weakest and most vicious reign, the seat of justice was filled by
the wisdom and integrity of Papinian and Ulpian; [43] and the purest
materials of the Code and Pandects are inscribed with the names of
Caracalla and his ministers. [44] The tyrant of Rome was sometimes the
benefactor of the provinces. A dagger terminated the crimes of Domitian;
but the prudence of Nerva confirmed his acts, which, in the joy of their
deliverance, had been rescinded by an indignant senate. [45] Yet in the
rescripts, [46] replies to the consultations of the magistrates, the
wisest of princes might be deceived by a partial exposition of the case.
And this abuse, which placed their hasty decisions on the same leve