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Article SECRET SOCIETIES OF THE MIDDLE AGES.—V. ← Page 8 of 9 →
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Secret Societies Of The Middle Ages.—V.
The length of the mete-wmiil being proved , the Jrolmer spoke for the third time : —¦ . " * Sir graff , I ask by permission , If I , with your mete-wand may mete Openly and Avithout displeasure , Here , the king ' s free judgment seat , '
" To which the graff replied : — " ' I permit right , I forbid wrong , Under the pains and penalties , That to tbe old known laws belong . ' ' " Now was the time of measuring the mystic plot ; it was measured by
the mete-wand along and athwart , and when the dimensions were found to be true , the graff placed himself on the seat of judgment , and gave the charge to the assembled free echevins , warning them to pronounce judg ment , according to right and justice . " ' On this day , with common consent , And under the clear firmament . A free court is established here
In the open eye of day , Enter soberly who may . The seat in its true-place is pight , The mete-wand is found to be right ; Declare your vote without delay ; And let tbe doom be truly given , Whilst yet the sun shines bright in heaven . ' "
Sir Walter Scott has transferred a portion of tliis judicial dialogue from the free field court of Corbcy to the Vehmique Tribunal , in his "Anne of Geierstein , " though tlie two courts , judging from the above brief account of the court of the abbey of Corbey , must have been of a somewhat different nature . Frederika Bremerin her "Episoden aus Reisen ( lurch das Sudlicho
, Deutschland , " g ives an account of a Vehm court beneath the castle of Baden , the vaults of ivhich extend to a considerable distance . Those who were brought before this tribunal , were not conducted into tbe castle vaults in the usual way , but ivere lowered into the gloomy abode of the Vehm by a cord , in a basket , and restored to the lihtif so fortunate as to be acquitted , in tbe same manner ; so that
g , they could never , however inclined , discover where they had been . The ordinary entrance was through a long dark passage , which was closed by a door consisting of a single stone , as large as a tomb-stone . The hinges on which this door revolved , were concealed from view , and it fitted the frame so exactly , that when it was shut , it could with great difficulty be discovered . It could only be opened from the
outside by a secret spring . Proceeding along the passages in which this door opened , you reached the torture room , which it is not necessary to describe here , and further on to the vault in which the tribunal sat , a long spacious quadrangle , hung with black . At the
upper end ivas a recess in ivhich were an altar and a crucifix ; near
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Secret Societies Of The Middle Ages.—V.
The length of the mete-wmiil being proved , the Jrolmer spoke for the third time : —¦ . " * Sir graff , I ask by permission , If I , with your mete-wand may mete Openly and Avithout displeasure , Here , the king ' s free judgment seat , '
" To which the graff replied : — " ' I permit right , I forbid wrong , Under the pains and penalties , That to tbe old known laws belong . ' ' " Now was the time of measuring the mystic plot ; it was measured by
the mete-wand along and athwart , and when the dimensions were found to be true , the graff placed himself on the seat of judgment , and gave the charge to the assembled free echevins , warning them to pronounce judg ment , according to right and justice . " ' On this day , with common consent , And under the clear firmament . A free court is established here
In the open eye of day , Enter soberly who may . The seat in its true-place is pight , The mete-wand is found to be right ; Declare your vote without delay ; And let tbe doom be truly given , Whilst yet the sun shines bright in heaven . ' "
Sir Walter Scott has transferred a portion of tliis judicial dialogue from the free field court of Corbcy to the Vehmique Tribunal , in his "Anne of Geierstein , " though tlie two courts , judging from the above brief account of the court of the abbey of Corbey , must have been of a somewhat different nature . Frederika Bremerin her "Episoden aus Reisen ( lurch das Sudlicho
, Deutschland , " g ives an account of a Vehm court beneath the castle of Baden , the vaults of ivhich extend to a considerable distance . Those who were brought before this tribunal , were not conducted into tbe castle vaults in the usual way , but ivere lowered into the gloomy abode of the Vehm by a cord , in a basket , and restored to the lihtif so fortunate as to be acquitted , in tbe same manner ; so that
g , they could never , however inclined , discover where they had been . The ordinary entrance was through a long dark passage , which was closed by a door consisting of a single stone , as large as a tomb-stone . The hinges on which this door revolved , were concealed from view , and it fitted the frame so exactly , that when it was shut , it could with great difficulty be discovered . It could only be opened from the
outside by a secret spring . Proceeding along the passages in which this door opened , you reached the torture room , which it is not necessary to describe here , and further on to the vault in which the tribunal sat , a long spacious quadrangle , hung with black . At the
upper end ivas a recess in ivhich were an altar and a crucifix ; near