Peeps at Many Lands
nobleman that he was once asked to seize the throne and get rid of a usurper who was reigning at the time. He took two candles, one for himself and one for the usurper, and watched them burn. His own candle won. Taking this to mean that he would be successful, he raised an army, attacked the sovereign, defeated him, and reigned in his stead.
Then there were trials connected with eating and drinking. One of these consisted in drinking water in which a sacred image had been bathed. If any misfortune happened to the person within a fortnight after the day he took the water he was declared guilty. In other cases rice was eaten; this was given by the priest, and was mixed with drugs and other nasty things. If the accused person was made sick by the dose, that proved him to be guilty. This form of trial was practised until quite recently for the detection of various small offences. A similar form of ordeal existed in England as late as the middle of the thirteenth century. A morsel of bread and cheese had to be eaten. It did no harm if the person were innocent, but gave him convulsions if he were guilty.
Tree-climbing was also indulged in for the discovery of culprits. For this purpose a particular kind of tree was stripped of its bark, leaving a very slippery stem underneath. A man could prove his innocence of the charge brought against him by successfully "climbing the greasy pole."
Before any of the diving-trials that we have mentioned take place, the recorder reads out a long address to the "gods of all mountains, streams, lakes, and creeks," for
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