Philipson, carefully avoiding any gesture which might indicate a desire to escape, raised his body on the lower part of the couch, and remained seated, clothed as he was in his under-vest and _caleçons_, or drawers, so as exactly to face the muffled President of the terrible court. Even in these agitating circumstances, the mind of the undaunted Englishman remained unshaken, and his eyelid did not quiver, nor his heart beat quicker, though he seemed, according to the expression of Scripture, to be a pilgrim in the Valley of the Shadow of Death, beset by numerous snares, and encompassed by total darkness, where light was most necessary for safety. The President demanded his name, country, and occupation. "John Philipson," was the reply; "by birth an Englishman, by profession a merchant." "Have you ever borne any other name and profession?" demanded the Judge. "I have been a soldier, and, like most others, had then a name by which I was known in war." "What was that name?" "I laid it aside when I resigned my sword, and I do not desire again to be known by it. Moreover, I never bore it where your institutions have weight and authority," answered the Englishman. "Know you before whom you stand?" continued the Judge. "I may at least guess," replied the merchant. "Tell your guess, then," continued the interrogator. "Say who we are, and wherefore are you before us?" "I believe that I am before the Unknown, or Secret Tribunal, which is called Vehme-gericht." "Then are you aware," answered the Judge, "that you would be safer if you were suspended by the hair over the Abyss of Schaffhausen, or if you lay below an axe, which a thread of silk alone kept back from the fall. What have you done to deserve such a fate?" "Let those reply by whom I am subjected to it," answered Philipson, with the same composure as before. "Speak, accuser!" said the President, "to the four quarters of heaven!--To the ears of the free judges of this tribunal, and the faithful executors of their doom!--And to the face of the child of the cord, who denies or conceals his guilt, make good the substance of thine accusation!"