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Article THE SECRET SOCIETIES OF THE MIDDLE AGES. Page 1 of 10 →
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The Secret Societies Of The Middle Ages.
THE SEGEEt SOOIEfM
M ^ societies bf ^ scanty , for the most panrt > v ^ en ; com * pared with that w ^ inforuaa ^ ion to he ( Obtained about them ^ to that of vvhich we propose M tnbunzds of l ^ stphalia , more cbioamonly known as the TFebmhjtie
Tribunal , or the Hoty V ^ This , says one of its historiographers ^ wa ^ an association remarkable in itself but wliich arts of i ^ mahcers , enveloped in darkness , mystery , and awe , ikr beyond the degree in which such a poetical investiture can be bestowed upon it by the calm inquirer after truth . " The gloom of midnight , " he continues , " will rise to the mind of many a reader at the name of the secret tribunals of Westphalia ; a dimly lighted cavern beneath the walls
of some castle , or peradventure Swiss hostelry , wherein sit blackrobed judges in solemn silence , will be present to his imagination ; and he is prepared with breathless anxiety to peruse the details of deeds without a name . " We cohfess that we cannot entirely agree with this writer , as we cannot but consider that in all the annals of this mysterious association , even the most sober querist will find no small amount of the
romantic commingled with the truth ; as we think our readers , whether the subject be new to them or not , will allow , when they have read such particulars as we shall be able to lay before them—in which , while we endeavour to present them in an interesting form , we shall not draw on the imagination for supplies .
The writer we have above referred to says that , extraordinary as these secret tribunals were , he can only view them as an instance of that compensating principle which may be discerned in the moral as well as in the natural empire of the Deity ; for , during the most turbulent , and lawless period of the history of Germany , almost the sole check on crime , in a large portion of the country , was the salutary (?) terror of these VehmgwicMq , or secret tribunals . It is certainly something new to a * v Englishman to hear that any YOI * V . 2 I
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
The Secret Societies Of The Middle Ages.
THE SEGEEt SOOIEfM
M ^ societies bf ^ scanty , for the most panrt > v ^ en ; com * pared with that w ^ inforuaa ^ ion to he ( Obtained about them ^ to that of vvhich we propose M tnbunzds of l ^ stphalia , more cbioamonly known as the TFebmhjtie
Tribunal , or the Hoty V ^ This , says one of its historiographers ^ wa ^ an association remarkable in itself but wliich arts of i ^ mahcers , enveloped in darkness , mystery , and awe , ikr beyond the degree in which such a poetical investiture can be bestowed upon it by the calm inquirer after truth . " The gloom of midnight , " he continues , " will rise to the mind of many a reader at the name of the secret tribunals of Westphalia ; a dimly lighted cavern beneath the walls
of some castle , or peradventure Swiss hostelry , wherein sit blackrobed judges in solemn silence , will be present to his imagination ; and he is prepared with breathless anxiety to peruse the details of deeds without a name . " We cohfess that we cannot entirely agree with this writer , as we cannot but consider that in all the annals of this mysterious association , even the most sober querist will find no small amount of the
romantic commingled with the truth ; as we think our readers , whether the subject be new to them or not , will allow , when they have read such particulars as we shall be able to lay before them—in which , while we endeavour to present them in an interesting form , we shall not draw on the imagination for supplies .
The writer we have above referred to says that , extraordinary as these secret tribunals were , he can only view them as an instance of that compensating principle which may be discerned in the moral as well as in the natural empire of the Deity ; for , during the most turbulent , and lawless period of the history of Germany , almost the sole check on crime , in a large portion of the country , was the salutary (?) terror of these VehmgwicMq , or secret tribunals . It is certainly something new to a * v Englishman to hear that any YOI * V . 2 I