The Vehmic Courts of Westphalia. oath, it was of course practically supreme. The territory over which the jurisdiction of the Vehmic courts extended was divided into districts, in each of which there was at least one court, presided over by a judge called Freigraf, or free count. The candidate for admission as a member, or " Freischoffe," was to be a free man, born in lawful wed lock, and one who had lived a life of good repute. On this latter point they were very strict. If it was discovered that a man desired to enter only to escape the con sequences of former ill-doing, he was led to the nearest tree and there taught that the object of the association was to repress crime, and not to secure safety for criminals. Ecclesiastics, Jews, heathen, and women were excluded. The rights and privileges of the brother hood could be acquired in only one way : by a solemn form of initiation which changed not even for the emperor himself. More over, to be valid, the ceremony had to be performed on " the red earth of West phalia." The candidate, having satisfied the assem bled Freischoffen of his fitness, was required to kneel before the Freigraf, holding in his right hand the hilt of a sword, to which a halter was attached, and to repeat this solemn oath : " I swear by the Holy Law that from this day forth I will keep and hide the Vehm from sun and from moon, from water and from fire, from all creatures and from all living men, from father and mother, from sister and brother, from wife and child, from friend and kin, and from all that God ever created, excepting the man who has sworn the oath and is a Freischoffe; furthermore, that from this day forth, I will bring before this tribunal, or some other free tribunal, to be judged according to justice or according to mercy, whatever is cog nizable by the Vehm, whether I know it of my own knowledge or learn it of a truthful man, whether it be in the bye-way or high way, by night or by day, in wood or in field;
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whether it be in the tavern, in wine or beer houses, or in the church; whether it be in the whole world; and this I shall not forbear to do for love nor for hate, for friend nor for kin, for silver nor for gold, nor for the sake of anything that God has created or made in the world; furthermore, that from this day forth I will neither say nor do, in word or in deed, anything against the King or the Holy Empire's secret ban. All these words that have been here spoken before me and which I have repeated, I swear to keep truthfully and stedfastly, as a true Freischoffe should keep them, so help me God and the saints." After this oath had been administered, the Freigraf turned to the Frcifrone, who seems to have held an office similar to that of our clerk of the court, and bade him announce the penalty decreed against him who broke his oath. Then the Freifrone read as fol lows : " If this man shall break his oath, or reveal any part or portion of the secrets of the Holy Ban, he shall be seized, his hands bound together, and a bandage put over his eyes; he shall be throsvn upon his back, his tongue shall be torn from his throat, a threestranded rope fastened about his neck, and he shall be hanged seven feet higher than a common thief." The members of the Vehm had secret signs by which to recognize each other. When two of them met, each placed his right hand on his left shoulder and said : — "I give you greeting, comrade dear. What is it you are doing here?" At table a member of the brotherhood might be known by the position of his knife, the point of which was invariably turned towards him. The passwords to their meet ings were, " Strick, Stein, Gras, Grein"; besides which they had as a " need word" "Reiner dor Feweri." What these words meant to them has remained a secret to this day. At an early period in the history of the Vehmic courts the crimes which they under
