took to punish were those of heresy, apos tasy from Christianity, perjury and witch craft. Gradually, however, they assumed a more general jurisdiction, and at length came to deal with all offenses " against God, honor, and justice." If a man, having lost a case in the ordinary courts, failed of compliance with that court's decree, the complainant might bring him before the Vehmgericht, which would proceed against him as one guilty of an offense against law and order, in their code a capital crime. Their method of citing persons to appear before them was as follows : The Freigraf drew up the summons and entrusted it to two Freischoffen, who were sworn to serve it on the accused, and were afterwards com pelled to declare on their oath that they had done so. The case was to be heard six weeks later. If at that time the accused did not appear, a second summons was served by four Freischoffen, and another six weeks elapsed. If a third summons was necessary, eight members took the matter in hand. Unenviable indeed was the position of the man who ignored this last. He was adjudged guilty by default, and sentence was passed upon him by the judge in these terrible words : " I denounce him here by all the royal power and force, as is com manded by the royal ban. I deprive him — as an outcast and a banished man — of all the peace, justice, and freedom he has ever enjoyed since his baptism, and I deprive him henceforward of the enjoyment of the four elements. I declare him condemned and lost. He shall enjoy neither law nor justice, and I herewith curse his flesh and blood. May his body never receive burial, but may it be carried away by the wind, and may the ravens, the crows, and the wild birds of prey consume and destroy him. His neck I adjudge to the halter, and his body to be the prey of the birds, and of the beasts of the air, the sea, and the land; but may God have mercy upon his soul.
The almost invariable sequel to this was that the body of the condemned was pres ently swaying in the breeze from a neigh boring tree, with a dagger driven in the trunk beside it to indicate that this was the doing of the Vehm. The expression "secret tribunal" is very apt to bring to our minds the picture of a company of black-robed, masked men, gathered at midnight in some gloomy vault. The Vehmgericht was no such body. It held its meetings " in the eye of the light and in the face of the sun," under some chosen tree, such as the one at Dortmund. The legal hours were between seven and one, although if occasion required, the sit ting might be prolonged till sunset. On the day appointed for a trial, the Freischoffen assembled — eight being neces sary to legalize the proceedings — and the Freigraf ascended the seat of justice. Be fore him lay the sword, typifying with its blade supreme jurisdiction, and with its handle the cross of Christ; and beside it lay the withy or halter. As soon as the judge had announced that the court was open, a solemn silence prevailed, and the " peace of the court " was proclaimed three times. Then the judge turned to the assembled body and said, " I ask you, my brethren, if the hour has come in which I may judge the causes brought before the Holy Tri bunal "; to which the members answered, "The time has come." The Freigraf then chose six other judges to sit with him, and the trial began. If the accused was one of the initiated, he could clear himself by swearing upon the cross-handle of the sword that he was innocent. This was the legal oath of purification. Having done this he took a Kruezpfennig, or cross-penny, threw it at the feet of the judge and went his way. Whoever molested him broke the king's peace. An outsider could not thus clear himself, but was judged according to the evidence. Later in the history of the Vehm, this
