Chapter VII.

Cau6e of the degeneracy of the Fehm-courti — ^Attempts at refoiination — Causes of their high reputation — Case of the Duke of Wurtemberg — Of Kerstiaa Kerkeiink — Causes of the decline of the Fehm-jurisdiction.
The chief cause of the degeneracy of the Fehm- courts was the admission of improper persons into the society. Originally, as we have seen, no man was admitted to become a schuppe without pro- ducing satisfactory evidence as to the correctness of his character ; but now, in the case of either count or schoppe, a sufficient sum of money availed to super- sede inquiry, and the consequence was that men of the most disgraceful character frequently presided at the tribunals and wielded the formidable powers of the society. A writer in the reign of Sigfsmund says, " that those who had gotten authority to hang men were hardly deserving enough to k^p pigs; that they were themselves well worthy of the gallows if one cast a glance over their course of life ; that they left not unobserved the mote in their brother's eye, but overlooked the beam in their own, &c." And it required no small courage in the writer thus to express himself; for, according to his own testimony, people then hardly ventured even to speak of the Secret Tribunals, so great was the awe in which they were held.
The consequence was that justice was not to be had at any tribunal which was presided over by cor- rupt judges, as they selected assessors, and even by-
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SECRET TRIBUNALS OF WESTPHALIA. 399
slanders, of the same character with themselves, and whaiever verdict they pleased was found. The tri- bunal-lord generally winked at their proceeding's, while the right of appeal to the emperor was treated with little respect; for these monarehs had generally affairs of more immediate importance to themselves to occupy their attention. The right of exemption was also trampled on ; sovereign princes were, as we have seen, cited before the tribunals; so also were the Jews. Purely civil matters were now maintained lo beloug to the Fehm-jurisdiction, and parties in such cases were oiled before the tribunals, and for- febmed in case of disobedience. In short, the Pehm- Jiirisdiction was now become a positive evil instead tif being, B.S heretolbre, a benefit to the country.
Various attempts were doubtless made to reform (he Fehm-law and tribunals, such a£ the Arensberg' rerurmation,theOsnaburgh regulation, and others, but to little puri^ose. The system, in fact, was at variance with the spirit which was now beginning to prevail, and could not be brought to accord with it
Before we proceed to the decline of the society, we will pause a moment to consider the causes of the great reputation and influence which it obtained and exercised during the period in which it flourished.
The (irst and chief cause was the advantage which it was found to he of for the maintenance of soci&l order and tranquillily. In the very worst end most turbulent times a portion of mankind will always be found desirous of peace and Justice, even indepen- dently of any private interest ; another portion, feel- ing themselves the victims of oppression, will gladly catch at any hope of protection ; even the mighty and the oppressive themselves will at limes view witl) satisfaction any institution which may avail to shield them apainsl power superior to their own, or which they conceive may be made the instrument of ex-
■RCRBT SOCIETIES,
lendiDg: and strenglbening' their consequence. The Fehm-juriKdiction was calculated to suit all Ihese orders vf persons. The fourieeath and firieeath ceuturies were the most anarchic periods of Ger- many; ihe imperial power was feeble lo control; and the characters of most of the emperors were such as to render still more unavailing the little aa- thoriiy whicl;. as heads of the empire, they possessed. Sensible of their weakness, these monarchs generally favoured the Fehm- tribunals, which so freely, and even ostentatiously, recognised the imperial supe- riority, a impede them in their proceedings. The knowledge which, if initialed, they could derive of the crimes and misdemeanors committed in the empire, and Ihe power of directing the arms of the society against evil-doers, were also of no small importance, and they gradually became of opinion that their own existence was involved in that of the Febm-courts. The nobles of Westphalia, in like manner, found their advantage in belonging to the society, ^nd the office of tribuual- tord was, as we have seen, one of influence and emolument.
But it was the more helpless and oppressed classes of society, more especially the unhappy serfs, that most rejoiced in the existence of the Fehm-tribunals ; for there only could they hope lo meet witli sure re- dress when aggrieved, and frequently was a cause, when other courts had been appealed to in vain, brought before the Secret 'IVibunal, which judged without respect of persons. The accuser had farther not to fear the vengeance of the evil-doer, or his friends and dependents; for his name was kept a profound secret if the proofs which he could furnish were sufficient lo justify the inquisitorial process already described, and thus Ihe robber-noble, or the feudal tyrant, often met his merited puuiahment at
SECRET TfttBUNALS OF WESTPHALIA. 401
a time when he perhaps least dreaded it, and when' he held his victim, whose cries to justice had brought it on him, in the greatest contempt ; for, like the Nemesis, or the "gloom-roaming** Erinnys of an- tiquity, the retributive justice of the Fehm-tribunals moved to vengeance with stealthy pace, and caught its victim in the midst of his security.
A second cause was the opinion of these courts having been instituted by Charles the Great, a monarch whose memory was held in isuch high esti* mation and such just veneration during the middle ages. Emperors thought th^m%elves bound to treat with respect the ini^titution of him from whom they derived their authority; and the clergy themselves, exempt from its jurisdiction, were disposed to view with favour an institution established by the monarch to whom the Church was so deeply indebted, and pf whose objects the punishment of heretics was one of the most prominent.
A third, and not the least important cause, was the excellent organization of the society, which eU" abled it to give such effect to its decrees, and to which nothing in those times presented any paralleL The veil of secrecy which enveloped all its proceed- ings, and the number of agents ready to execute its mandates, inspired awe ; the strict inquiry which was known to be made into the character of a man before he was admitted into it gained it respect. Its sentences were, though the proofs were unknown^ believed to have emanated from justice ; and bad men trembled, and good men rejoiced, as they beheld the body of a criminal suspended i'rom a tree, and the schoppe's knife stuck beside it to intimate by whom he had been judged and condemned.
The reign of the Emperor Maximilian was a period of great reform in Germany, and his esta- blishment of the Perpetual Public Peace, and of
KCRET SOCIETIES.
the Imperial Chamber, Joined with other measures, tended considerably to ujter and improve the con- dition of llie empire. The Fehtn-tribunikls should, as a, matter of prudence, have cndeuvoured to ac-
nimodate themselves to the new order of things ; but tliis is a part of wisdom of which societies and corporatebodies are rarely found capable; and, instead of relaxing; in their pretensions, ihey even sought to extend them farther than before. Under their usual pretest — the denial of justice — they extended their citations to perEions and places over which they had no jurisdiction, and thereby provoke elicited the active hostility of cities and powerful ter- ritorial lords.
The most remarkable cases which this period pre- sents of the perversion of the rights and powers of the Fehm -tribunals are the two following : —
Duke Ulrich of Wiirtemberg lived unhappily with his duchess Sabina. There was at his court ayoung nobleman named Hans Hutten, a member of an honourable and powerful family, to whose wife the duke was more particular in his attentions than could be agreeable to a husband. The duchess, on her side, testified a particular esteem for Hans Hutten, and the intimacy between them was such as the duke could not foi^ve. Hutten was either so vain or so inconsiderate as to wear publicly on his finger n valuable ring which had been given to him by the duchess. This filled up the measure of the jealousy and rage of the duke, and one day, at ahuntiug-party in the wood of Bebiing, he contrived to draw Hutten uway from the rest of the train, and, taking; him at unawares, ran him through with his sword; he theu look oti' his girdle, and with it suspended him from one of the oak-trees in the wood. When the murder was discovered he did not deny il, but as.ieTted that he was a free schiippe, and had performed the deed
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AtS OF WESTPHALIA. 403
iu obedience to a mandate of the Secret Tributial, to which he was bound lo yield obediepce. Tliis tale, however, did not satisfy tlie family of Uutten, and they were as litile content with tbe proposal made by the murderer of giving them snlisfaction before a Weslphaliaii tribunal. They loudly appealed to the emperor lor justice, and the mascuiine eloquence of Ulrich voii Hutteii interested the public so stroiijrly in their favour, that the emperor found himself obliged to issue a sentence of outlawry against the Duke of Wflrtemberg. At length, through the medi- Btion of Cardinal Lang, an accommodation both with the Hutlen family and the duchess was eifected; but the enmity of the former was not appeased, and they some time afterwards lent their aid to effect the deposition of the dul>e and the confiscutioii of his properly.
It would seem that the Fehm-tribui[als would have justified the assassin ntion committed by the duke, at least that all confidence in their justice was now gone ; and, at this period, even those writers who are moat lavish in their praises of the schoppen of the olden time can find no language sufficiently strong to de- scribe ihe iniquity of those of their own days. It was now become a common saying that the course of a Fehm~court was first to hang the accused and then to examine into the charges against him. By a solemn recess of ihe Diet at Triers, in 1512, it was declared " that by the Westplialian tribunals many aD honest man had lost bis honour, body, life, aud property ;" and the Archbishop of Cologne, who must have known them well, shortly atlcrwards as- serted, among other charges, in a capitulation which he issued, that " by very many they were shunned and regarded as seminaries of villains."
The second case to which we alluded affords u stilt stronger proof of their degeneracy.
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named Kerstiua Kerkerink, nho lived near the (own of Mtinster, was accuned, and probably with truth, of having committed repeated acts of adultery. The Free-tribunal of Miinster determined to take cognizance of the oifair, and tliey sent and had him taken out of his bed in tlie dead of the niEfhL In order to prevent his makinfr any noise and resistance, the persona who were employed assured hiia that be was to be brought liefore the tribunal of a respectaUc councillor of the city of MQnster, and prevailed on him to put on his best clothes. They took bim (o a place named Beck man's -bush, where they kept him concealed while one of them conveyed intelli- gence of their success to the town-council.
At break of day the tribunal-lords, free-couut, and schuppen, taking with them a monk and a common hangman, proceeded to Beckman's-bush, and had the prisoner summoned before them. When he appeared he prayed to be allowed to have an advocate ; but this request was refused, and the court proceeded forth- with to pass sentence of death. The unfortunate man now implored for the delay of but one single day to settle his atfairs and make his peace with Qod j but this request also was strongly refused, and it was signified lo him that he must die forthwith, and that if he wished he might make his confession, to which end a confessor had been brought to the place. Whea the unhappy wretch sued once more for favour, it wai replied to him that he should find favour and be be- headed, not hung. The monk was tiien called for- ward, to bear his confession ; when that was over tlu executioner (who had previously been sworn nevR^ to reveaJ.what he saw) advanced and struck off the liead ot the dehnquent
Meantime, information ol what was going on had reached the town, and old and young came forth to wituisa the l>l>^t act ol the tragedy, ur perhaps to
SECRET TRIBUNALS OF WBSTPHALIA,
interfere in favour of Kerkerink. But this had beeu foreseen and provided againat; officers were set to watch all the approaches from the town till all was over, and when the people arrived they found nothing but the lifeless body of Kerkerink, whicl\ was placed in a coSia and buried in a neighbouring churehyard.
The bishop and chapter of MiinHler enpressed great indignation at this irregular proceeding and en- croachment on their rights, and it served to augment the general aversion to the Fehm-courls.
Our readers will at once perceive how much th« proceedings in this case, which occurred in the year 1580, dittered from those of former times. Then the accused \¥as formally summoned, and he was allowed to have an advocate ; here he was seized without knowing for what, and was hardly granted even the formality of a trial. Then the people who came, even accidentally, into the vicinity of a Fehm- ciiurt, would cross themselves and hasten away from the place, happy to escape with their lives; now they rush without apprehension to the spot where it was silting, and the members of it tiy at their approach. Finally, in severity as well as justice, the advantage was on the side of the old courts. The criminal suf- fered by the halter ; we hear of no father confessor being present to console his last moments, and his body, instead of being deposited in consecrated earth, was left to be lorn by the wild beasts and ravenous birds. The limes were evidently altered !
The Fehm-tribunals were never formally abolished; but llie excellent civil institutions of the Emperors Maximilian and Charles V., the consequent decrease of the turbulent and anarchic spirit, the introduction of the Roman law, (he spread of the Protestant re- ligion, and niany other events of those times, ctm- sjiired to give men an aversion for what now ap- peared to be ii barbarous jurisdiction and only suited
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to such times as it was hoped Bind Relieved never could return. Some of ibt courts were abolished ; exemptions and privilea^es against them were multi- plied ; tliey were prohibited all summary proceed- iogs; tbeir power gradually sank into insigaiticance ; Hud, thau them remained in some parts of Westphalia, they have Icing been only a subject of ajitiquarian i riosity as one of (he most striking phenomena of the middle age^. They were only suited lo a particulai" state of society : while that existed they were a benefit lo tlie world ; when it was gone they remained at Yarianee with tbe state which succeeded, became pernicious, were haled and despised, lost all tbeir
SECRET TRIBUNALS OF WESTPHALIA. 407
influence and reputation, shared the fate of every thin": human, whose character is instability and decay, &nd have left only their memorial behind them^
It is an important advance in civilization, and a £:reat social gain, to have got rid, for all public pur- poses, of Secret Societies — both of their existence and of their use ; for, that, like most of the other obsolete forms into which the arrangements of society have at one time or other resolved themitlves, some of these mysterious and exclusive institutions, whether for pre- serving knowledge or dispensing justice, served, each in its day, purposes of the highest utility, which appa- rently could not have been accomplished by any other existing or available contrivance, has been sufficiently shown by the expositions that have been given, in the preceding pages, of the mechanism and working of certain of the most remarkable of their number. But it has been made at least equally evi- dent that the evils attendant upon their operation, and inherent in their nature, were also very great, and that, considered even as the suitable remedies for a most disordered condition of human affairs, they were at best only not quite so bad as the dis- ease. They were institutions for preserving know- ledge, not by promoting, but by preventing that diffusion of it which, after all, both gives to it its chief value, and, in a natural state of things, most effec- tually ensures its purification, as well as its increase ; and for executing justice, by trampling under foot the rights alike of the wrong-doer and of his victim. Mankind may be said to have stepped out of night into day, in having thrown off the burden and bondage of this form of the social system, and having attained to the power of pursuing knowledge in the spirit of knowledge, and justice in the spirit of justice. We have now escaped from that state of confusion
40d SECR&T sociEfias:.
and conflict in which one man's gain was necessarily another man's loss, and are fairly on our way towards that opposite state in which, in everything, as far as the constitution of this world will permit, the gain of one shall be the gain of all. This latter, to whatever degree it may be actually attainable, is the proper hope and goal of all human civilization.
THE END.
London : Printed by W. Clowks and Sons, SUmford Strett*
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