The use of the ordeal is of great antiquity. Blackstone[3] notices obvious traces of it among both the ancient Greeks and Germans, but especially the latter. It was chiefly of two kinds, the fire ordeal, and the water ordeal: the former, which was confined to persons of high rank, consisted in carrying a piece of red-hot iron, or in walking barefoot upon red-hot ploughshares; the latter kind of ordeal, which was intended for the common people, consisted in plunging the arm up to the wrist, or the elbow, in boiling water, or in being thrown into a deep river, or pond.[4] If the person escaped unhurt from these perilous trials, it was supposed that the Divine Being had interposed for his safety, and he was pronounced innocent of the charge which had been brought against him. The pernicious nature of the custom, in reference to the welfare of society, is too evident to require remark; and Christianity shows itself to be the friend of man in discountenancing such practices. Under the influence of the principles of Christianity, some of the churchmen of the dark ages did condemn the use of the ordeal, but others, in the accommodating spirit already noticed, gave to it a decided sanction. In the sixth century, it was appealed to for the decision of theological questions; and after the ninth century, the clergy in general assumed its superintendence, probably from benevolent, though mistaken notions. A third kind of ordeal was engrafted upon one of the most solemn services of the church. The _corsned_, or morsel of execration, was either the sacramental wafer itself, or a piece of bread administered in connexion with the eucharist. A solemn prayer was offered that the bread might cause convulsions, if the person receiving it were guilty. The reader, perhaps, will remember the history of earl Godwin, in the reign of Edward the Confessor, who expired as he was at table eating a mouthful of bread, which he prayed might choke him if he had been guilty of the death of the king's brother. Some doubt has been thrown upon the tale, but its insertion in our early histories illustrates the superstitious regard which was paid to this species of ordeal, and to the result of any appeal to Heaven under circumstances which bore any resemblance to its more solemn administration. The trial by ordeal in England fell into disuse about the thirteenth century, but at an earlier period it had disappeared in the judicial proceedings of most other European nations. The extinction of the practice was owing, in a great measure, to the more enlightened views of the subject which were entertained by the clergy at the time. It is, however, to be lamented, that, having been tolerated so long, the spirit of the institution survived its formal practice: and still we occasionally find persons impiously appealing to Heaven in proof of their innocence, somewhat after the manner which prevailed in the middle ages.