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Article THE SEGEEt SOOIEfM ← Page 5 of 10 →
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The Segeet Sooiefm
the ground , firstly , that Charlemagne was a prince too just and humane to have sanctioned so cruel a tribunal j and , secondly , because contemporary historians are silent on the point . But bow , asks Archdeacon Coxe , can he be said to have been just a , nd humane , who , when he had conquered Wittikind , the leate Saxons , ordered four thousand three hundred of his foUow Werden ; and who removed , at one time , above t ^ thousand natives , of Westph ^ iafr
$ f or , says the archdeacon , does the silence of contemporary historians invalidate the probability of this account ; for how coiild they give an account of what was involved in darkness , or describe the mode of proceeding of a tribunal whose members never revealed the secret , and , who would have incurred the penalty of death by doing so . Sufficient traces of these tribunals ( on the same high
authority ) appear in the early ages of German history ; and Conrad II . > emperor of Germany ; was requested by t ^ themselves to confirm those sanguinary laws ahd to sanction that terrible jurisprudence—a strange instance of fetuity , and no proof that the association was established by , or in accordance with the spirit o £ any existing laws .
The judges a , nd the spies , says Paulus Aurelius , * so totally Concealed the whole process , and the proofs by which the condemned were found guilty , that at the death of Gharlemagne , they could not be induced , either by threats or promises , to reveal the secrets of the institution . From this , doubtless , and other such circumstances as
these , the Yehm gradually acquired , or rather usurped , the enormous power which it possessed towards the end of the fifteenth century ; and thus under the shadow of authority and royal institution , did the chiefs of the Vehm become a really self constituted association , with power of their own creating , laws of their own framing , and
might in fact under the name of right . Hence arose the law called Westphalian , consecrated by time and silence ; the judges , or oonscii , initiated in certain ceremonies , recognized each other by secret signs , and thus sprung up a most powerful secret association , which , however good may have been its original object , was in course of time made use of most extensively to forward the political ends and ambitious designs of such individuals as , whether absolutely members of the Tehm or not , had sufficient influence over the miiids of its
officers to make it subservient to their purposes . Each court was composed of a judge , who was at least a free count , and was necessarily a native of Westphalia , and of a certain number of assessors . The assessors were called in German , Schoffer , and also die Wissende , or the wise men , because they were supposed to be persons of learning and condition , and well skilled in the secret business of the tribunal—in Latin , scabini . It was the privilege of an assessor that he could not be accused but before the secret tribunal , for crimes cognisable by that tribunal . The accusation * De Qestis Francorum , Lib , hi .
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
The Segeet Sooiefm
the ground , firstly , that Charlemagne was a prince too just and humane to have sanctioned so cruel a tribunal j and , secondly , because contemporary historians are silent on the point . But bow , asks Archdeacon Coxe , can he be said to have been just a , nd humane , who , when he had conquered Wittikind , the leate Saxons , ordered four thousand three hundred of his foUow Werden ; and who removed , at one time , above t ^ thousand natives , of Westph ^ iafr
$ f or , says the archdeacon , does the silence of contemporary historians invalidate the probability of this account ; for how coiild they give an account of what was involved in darkness , or describe the mode of proceeding of a tribunal whose members never revealed the secret , and , who would have incurred the penalty of death by doing so . Sufficient traces of these tribunals ( on the same high
authority ) appear in the early ages of German history ; and Conrad II . > emperor of Germany ; was requested by t ^ themselves to confirm those sanguinary laws ahd to sanction that terrible jurisprudence—a strange instance of fetuity , and no proof that the association was established by , or in accordance with the spirit o £ any existing laws .
The judges a , nd the spies , says Paulus Aurelius , * so totally Concealed the whole process , and the proofs by which the condemned were found guilty , that at the death of Gharlemagne , they could not be induced , either by threats or promises , to reveal the secrets of the institution . From this , doubtless , and other such circumstances as
these , the Yehm gradually acquired , or rather usurped , the enormous power which it possessed towards the end of the fifteenth century ; and thus under the shadow of authority and royal institution , did the chiefs of the Vehm become a really self constituted association , with power of their own creating , laws of their own framing , and
might in fact under the name of right . Hence arose the law called Westphalian , consecrated by time and silence ; the judges , or oonscii , initiated in certain ceremonies , recognized each other by secret signs , and thus sprung up a most powerful secret association , which , however good may have been its original object , was in course of time made use of most extensively to forward the political ends and ambitious designs of such individuals as , whether absolutely members of the Tehm or not , had sufficient influence over the miiids of its
officers to make it subservient to their purposes . Each court was composed of a judge , who was at least a free count , and was necessarily a native of Westphalia , and of a certain number of assessors . The assessors were called in German , Schoffer , and also die Wissende , or the wise men , because they were supposed to be persons of learning and condition , and well skilled in the secret business of the tribunal—in Latin , scabini . It was the privilege of an assessor that he could not be accused but before the secret tribunal , for crimes cognisable by that tribunal . The accusation * De Qestis Francorum , Lib , hi .