NOTES.
99
it should prepare for death, which he must infallibly and unexpectedly receive from an unknown hand. The secret court was called the fehm tribunal (Vehmgericht) or Westphalian. It is difficult to determine its origin; according to some writers it was instituted by Charlemagne. At first necessary, it gave opportunity for many abuses later on, and governments were forced to exercise severity occasionally against the judges themselves, before this institution was completely overthrown. [Scott's graphic description in "Anne of Geierstein" of the court and procedure of the Vehmgericht will be instantly suggested.]
(16) ''A sudden cry."
—"What cleaves the silent air,
So madly shrill, so passing wild?
......
It was a woman's shriek, and ne'er
In madlier accents rose despair;
And they who heard it as it passed.
In mercy wished it were the last."—Parisina.
[The coincidence, or borrowing of ideas, is manifest, but the image has been amplified and beautified in the Polish poem.]
N.B.—In all the Polish words retained in the text j is pronounced like y, and w like v.
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