the Free Judges, the
veritable Free Judges, and the Holy Judges of the Secret Tribunal. The
candidate for initiation was led blindfold before the dread Tribunal,
presided over by a _Stuhlherr_ (or master of the chair) or his
substitute, a _Freigraf_, with a sword and branch of willow at his side.
The initiate was then bound by a terrible oath not to reveal the secrets
of the "Holy Vehm," to warn no one of danger threatening them by its
decrees, to denounce anyone, whether father, mother, brother, sister,
friend, or relation, if such a one had been condemned by the Tribunal.
After this he was given the password and grip by which the confederates
recognized each other. In the event of his turning traitor or revealing
the secrets confided to him his eyes were bandaged, his hands tied
behind his back, and his tongue was torn out through the back of his
neck, after which he was hanged by the feet till he was dead, with the
solemn imprecation that his body should be given as a prey to the birds
of the air.

It is difficult to believe that the points of resemblance with modern
masonic ritual[322] which may here be discerned can be a mere matter of
coincidence, yet it would be equally unreasonable to trace the origins
of Freemasonry to the Vehmgerichts. Clearly both derived from a common
source, either the old pagan traditions on which the early Vehms were
founded or the system of the Templars. The latter seems the more
probable for two reasons: firstly, on account of the resemblance between
the methods of the Vehmgerichts and the Assassins, which would be
explained if the Templars formed the connecting link; and secondly, the
fact that in contemporary documents the members of the Secret Tribunals
were frequently referred to under the name of Rose-Croix.[323] Now,
since, as we have seen, the degree of the Rosy Cross is said to have
been brought to Europe by the Templars, this would account for the
persistence of the name in the Vehmgerichts as well as in the
Rosicrucians of the seventeenth century, who are said to have continued
the Templar tradition. Thus Templarism and Rosicrucianism appear to have
been always closely connected, a fact which is not surprising since both
derive from a common source--the traditions of the near East.

This brings us to an alternative theory concerning the channel through
which Eastern doctrines, and particularly Cabalism, found their way into
Freemasonry. For it must be admitted that one obstac