A  consistory  sat  again  in  the  green  hollow.  A
very  aged  prisoner  was  brought  before  them.  He
must  have  been  a  hundred  years  old;  and  he  had
Written  a  great  many  books,  and  all  his  books  were
brought  with  him.  This  was  the  most  decorous  of
all  the  consistories.  The  members  were  all  in  fine
robes,  and  extremely  courteous  towards  each  other,
and  though  somewhat  bitter  towards  the  prisoner,
they  did  not  treat  the  old  man  with  rudeness.  But
there  was  one  respect  in  which  this  consistory  dif-
fered from  all  the  others :  it  was  that  women  sat  in
it,  and  great  deference  was  paid  to  what  they  said.
This  was  the  most  polite  of  all  the  consistories,  but
the  second  seemed  the  most  religious.  They  ad-
dressed the  prisoner  in  a  very  long  speech,  which  he
answered,  and  his  voice  was  so  feminine  and  so  melli-
fluous, that  it  startled  me  when  he  first  began  to
speak.     When  he  had  finished,  there  arose  a  dispute

Tt


642  BOOK  HI.
among  the  members,  some  wishing  that  he  should  be
taken  awaj  in  the  eloud,  whereon  the  luminous
streaks  were  again  visible,  but  not  so  ruddy  as
before ;  others  proposed  that  he  should  take  an  oath
that  he  would  not  pull  down  any  of  the  pillars.
