THE BUILDER SEPTEMBER 1916

THE VEHMGERICHTE

BY BRO. E. J. WITTENBERG, CAL.

(In answer to a number of enquiries as to the possible influence of
The Vehmgerichte on Masonry, we reproduce from the Bulletin of the
Los Angeles Consistory the following brief essay by Brother E. J.
Wittenberg, read--as we think very happily and appropriately--at
the conclusion of the presentation of the Twenty-first Degree of
the Scottish Rite. Brother Gould, in his History of Masonry, takes
up the question of the supposed influence of this old German court
on blue Masonry, and does not think much of it. There are
resemblances and some analogies, but nothing more. Still, further
light may reveal other things, and further light is what we want
from every possible source. If this little essay serves to provoke
further study, it will do what it was meant to do.)

The founder of the German Vehmgerichte, according to Westphalian
tradition, was Charles I., Emperor of Germany (Charlemagne), A. D.
742-814. This tradition, however, could only apply to the
Frohngerichte, or Free Field Court of Saxony, instituted by
Charlemagne for the purpose of coercing Saxons, who were ever ready
to relapse into the idolatory from which they had been reclaimed,
not by persuasion, but by the sword. The first authentic mention of
the Vehmgerichte, and documentary evidence, is found during the
reign of Frederick I., Emperor of Germany (Barbarossa), A. D. 1152.

Westphalia was the home of these courts, and only upon the "Red
Earth," as the confines of this old Duchy were called, could their
members be initiated. The place of session, known as the Freistuhl
(Free Seat), held on some hill or other well-known accessible spot
and was presided over by the Emperor, called Oberstuhlherr"
(Over-Lord), or his representative appointed by him, usually a
noble or churchman of great prominence, in the general chapter, and
by a Freigraf (Free Count), called "Stuhlherr" (Presiding Judge),
in the subordinate courts, with fifteen Freischoeffen as
associates, the youngest of which acted as summoner. Before the
Stuhlherr on a table lay the emblems of his authority, the sword
and the cord.

The Freischoeffen were divided into two classes, "Offenbare"
(uninitiated) and the "Wissende" (initiated). This latter,
Stillgericht (Sacred Tribunal), was closed to all but the
initiated; any one in attendance not a member on being discovered
was immediately put to death.

The applicant for initiation as a Freischoeffe, among the Wissende,
appeared before the dread tribunal blindfolded, bareheaded and
ungirt, where he was interrogated as to his qualifications, good
repute, ether he was a Teuton, freeborn and clear of any accusation
punishable by the tribunal of which he desired to become a member.
If his answers and sponsors were satisfactory, he then took the
following oath:

"I hereby swear by the Holy Law that I will conceal the secrets of
the Holy Vehme from wife and child, from father and mother, from
sister and brother, from fire and water, from every creature upon
which the sun shines, or upon which the rain falls, from every
being between earth and heaven. I furthermore swear that I will
communicate to the tribunal all crimes or offenses which fall
beneath the secret ban of the Emperor or this tribunal, knowing
them to be true or imparted to me by a trustworthy person or
persons, and I will not forbear to do so--for love nor for
loathing, for gold nor for silver, nor precious stones, and may I
suddenly be seized, my eyes bound, my body cast down on the soil,
my tongue torn out the back of my neck and hanged seven times
higher than any other criminal, should I violate this my solemn
oath."

He then received the password, by which he was to know his fellows,
and grip and sign by which they recognized each other in silence.

The General Chapter of the initiated, or Heimliche Acht (Secret
Tribunal) was held once a year, and all the members were liable to
be called to account for their acts; reports were made by the
Stuhlherren (Presiding Judges) of all proceedings which had taken
place within their various jurisdictions during the year; unworthy
members expelled or punished; regulations were enacted for new and
unforseen cases for which the existing laws did not provide a
remedy.

In the early history of the organization, the accused could be
absolved by taking the oath of purification upon the handle of the
judge's sword, but when it was found that criminals did not
hesitate to perjure themselves, the accuser, always a Freischoeffe,
could substantiate his charge even against the oath of the accused
by three or more witnesses. If the accused could discredit these by
a number of one-half more, he was still discharged, otherwise he
was condemned, and sentence was passed upon him and he was
forthwith hanged on the nearest tree. If a thief, murderer, or
perpetrator of any other heinous crime was apprehended in the very
act, or if he himself confessed the deed, he was immediately hung,
providing at least three Freischoeffen were present when
apprehended. If an individual was strongly suspected of a crime,
but without any certain accuser, he was sometimes allowed to run
the risk of the ordeal by fire, bier-right, or combat. In the first
ordeal, a fire was kindled and the person about to undergo the
ordeal was placed in front of the fire, surrounded by all who were
in any way interested in the result of the trial. Upon a table near
the fire, the plough-share over which he was to walk, the bar of
iron he was to carry, or if he was a knight, the steel gloves
which, after they had been made red hot, he was to put on his
hands, were placed in view of all.

While the iron was placed on the fire and heating, the following
prayer was said:


"We pray unto Thee, O God, that it may please Thee to absolve this
Thy servant and to clear him from his sins. Purify him, O Heavenly
Father, from all the stains of the flesh, and enable him, by Thy
all-covering and atoning grace to pass through this fire--Thy
creature--triumphantly. O God, Thou that through fire hath shown
forth so many signs of Thy almighty power; Thou that didst cause
the bush to burn before the eyes of Moses and yet not be consumed,
God that didst safely conduct the three children through the flame
of the Babylonians; God that didst waste Sodom with fire from
heaven, and preserve Lot, Thy servant, as a sign and token of Thy
mercy; O God show forth once again the visible power of Thy majesty
or Thy unerring judgment; that truth may be made manifest and
falsehood avenged, make Thou this fire Thy minister before us,
powerless be it where the power of purity, but sorely burning, even
to flesh and the sinews, the hand that had done evil, and that had
not feared to be lifted up in false swearing. O God, from whose eye
nothing can be concealed, make Thou this fire Thy voice to us Thy
servants, that it may reveal innocence, or cover iniquity with
shame."

The accused then approached the fire, lifted the iron and carried
it nine feet from the fire. The moment he laid it down, his hands
were wrapped in linen cloths and sealed. These were removed on the
third day, when he was declared innocent or guilty, according to
the condition in which his hands were found.

In the ordeal of bier-right, the remains of the murdered man were
placed on a bier before the Stuhlherr, his arms folded on his
breast, palms joined together with the fingers pointed upward; the
face, breast and arms bare, and the rest of the corpse shrouded in
a winding sheet of fine linen, so that if blood should flow from
any place which was covered, it could not fail to be instantly
seen, it being the belief at that time that the corpse of a
murdered person would bleed on the touch or at the approach of the
murderer. At the head of the bier stood the challenger, and at the
foot, the defender.

The suspected person then approached the bier, taking the following
oath.

"By all that was created in seven days and seven nights, by heaven,
by hell, by my part of paradise and by the God and Author of all,
I am free and sackless of the bloody deed done upon the corpse
before which I stand and on whose breast I make the sign of the
cross, an evidence of my appeal and innocence."

Summons to the accused was not generally served personally on him,
but secretly nailed to his door or some other neighboring place;
the citation allowed him six weeks and three days grace, and was
thrice repeated.

If the accused appeared, judgment was given according to the
evidence; if he did not appear, he was declared outlawed
(Vogel-frei). This declaration was quickly made known to the whole
body, and the Freischoeffe who was the first to meet the condemned
was bound to put him to death by hanging. A dagger marked with the
secret letters "S. S. G. G." of the Heimliche Acht, signifying
Stock, Stein, Gras, Grein (stick, stone, grass and grain), was laid
by the corpse as a sign that judgment had been executed by the
Secret Tribunal.

A power so formidable, from which the most powerful princes were
not exempt, soon raised the hostility of those who feared becoming
its victims, as well as those who saw in it an engine of terrible
oppression, and in the fifteenth century an association was formed
among the free cities and princes of Germany to resist the free
judges, and to require that the trial of accused persons should
take place in the open. Maximilian I., A. D. 1495, established a
new criminal code, which materially weakened the Vehmgerichte. In
the sixteenth century they were brought under the jurisdiction of
ordinary courts, and although robbed of all its old impressive
forms, it still survived into the beginning of the nineteenth
century, when finally abolished in 1811 by order of Jerome
Bonaparte, King of Westphalia. The last Freischoeffe, Graf
Engelhard, died in 1835 at Worl, in Westphalia.

In 1874, when the judiciary system of Germany was reformed, a
branch of this system, before which minor civil cases are tried,
was named a Schoeffengericht, consisting of one presiding judge and
two Schoeflen, and so far as I know these courts are still in
existence.

THE GREAT LIGHT SYMBOLISM

1. This sacred symbol you must hold 
In high esteem as your delight; 
Since to our craft throughout the world, 
It is the Great Masonic Light.

2. Though we may differ in belief, 
And fail in doctrine to agree; 
The men of this, and every age 
Accept its pure morality.

3. Within its pages you can find 
Those living principles of right; 
Which can your daily walk adorn 
With deeds of clear fraternal light.

4. I charge you to revere this book, 
And heed its teachings night and day; 
Since on our altar it is found 
To guide us in the better way.

5. We cannot dictate as to faith, 
Nor here discuss the many creeds 
Which earnest, thoughtful minds have framed, 
To meet the world's religious needs.

6. But we are taught within our Lodge 
To take each brother by the hand; 
And urge him with a solemn vow, 
By this great light to always stand.

7. If from our sacred altar here 
The infidel or libertine, 
Could wrest this Book of Sacred laws 
The grandest code the race has seen:

8. That light that has for ages shone 
To guide Freemasons on their way:-- 
Then we no longer could maintain 
The freedom which we claim today.

9. But just as long as we can keep 
Its golden rays of truth and love; 
The Craft thereby may hope to rise 
To yonder Lodge in heaven above.

10. Guard then this great Masonic light, 
The guiding symbol of our Band; 
Defend it as you would the flag, 
That now enfolds your native land.

11. Live by its teachings till you go 
To that bright home beyond the sea: 
Where you shall evermore enjoy 
A blessed immortality.
--N. A. McAulay.

