And I dealt not with severity towards any one, and I was not oppressive in any of my actions; that God Almighty might not deal severely towards me, nor render my own actions oppressive unto me.
"And I inquired of learned men into the laws and regulations of ancient princes, from the days of Adam to those of the Prophet, and from the days of the Prophet down to this time.

And I weighed their institutions and their actions and their opinions, one by one.

And from their approved manners and their good qualities I selected models.

And I inquired into the causes of the subversion of their power, and I shunned those actions which tend to the destruction and overthrow of regal authority.

And from cruelty and from oppression, which are the destroyers of posterity and the bringers of famine and of plagues, I found it was good to abstain.
"_Ninthly_.