Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1858-06-21
A SYRIAN COURT OF TRIAL At THE
OLD BAILEY OF BEyKOuT.

OLD BAILEY OE BEyKOUT.
This temple Of Themis is in the seragiio the
official residence of the Pacha; our road thither
lay through a dirty, narrow, unsavory street,
very embiematical Of the course of justice in the
East-dark, tortuous, and following no direct
line In the courtyard of the seragIio dilap-
idated staircase gave access to the ante-room Of
the court, and here walked. sat, smoked. and
gossiped, the prisoners, their friends their ac-
cusers, their guards, and the attendants and
hangers-on of the members Of the tribunal; the
esrthen floor was covered with pools of water;
on charcoal FIRE in one corner stood the iney-
liable coffee pot, and in another was a colIec-
tion Of swords, narghiles, muskets, pipe sticks
and similar accessories. In the centre of one
OF the sides doorway covered by a curtain,
gave access to the court itself, room as unlike
our notions of what such place ought to be as
can be imagined.
When We entered, the members rose with.
true eastern politeness, and made the salaam;
and the president having invited me to take q
seat on the diyan by his side, some short COM
pliments passed and the case in hand proceed
ed. Presently pipes were brought in, ard we
again exchanged salaams the same ceremony
was gone through with the coffee, and then we
had time to attend to the case in hand, and ex-
anime the locality. The room in which we sat,
and the ante-room, appeared to comprise the
whole space devoted to the law courts. The
contents of the ante-rOCm we had already Won
were in perfect keeping with them. 1t was
a tolerably lofty apartment, with windows on
three sides, decorated with wisps of muslin by
way Of curtains, and garnished on those sides
with divans, extending one half of the length
oil the room; another divan, with back to it.
reaching half way across the apartment, leay-
ing passage way of about six feet in width.
On this cross divan sat the secretary of the
trIbunal-an old gentleman-who was busy
copying papers and refreshing himself, from
time to time. by thrusting his turban on one
side and clawing his scalp vigorously with his
very dirty fingers. On the other three divans
sat the members Of the tribunal. who were
both Judge and jury and advocates for the pris-
Oner and the crown to bOCt-that is, when they
d sit; for very liberal amount of lOcomO-
ton seemed nOwiSe to interfere with the dis
charge of their Judicial functions
The court, within the space enclosed by the
divans, was matted. Without that privileged
space the mud floor appeared, and there stood
the prisoner and the witness. Shortly after
our arrival the president, after roundly taking
to task preyaricatiDg culprit, got up from his
seat OF honor In the corner and went outside
the " bar" After performing his ablutions he
established himself on a little prayer carpet,
and went through his prayers, being a Mo
hammedan, as coOlly as though there were no
prisoner or witnesses under examination The
prayer done he returned to his seat all OF US
rising and salutirg him as though he had just
entered the room, fresh pipe was brought
him, several cups of coffee was distributed
and all this time the case was going on, and an
other scribe was busily writing down the evil
dence. The president takes no notes; all that
Il done by one or two secretaries, who sit cross
legged like all the rest holding the paper
on the palm Of their hands, and covering it
by the aid of 4 reed pen with an admirable imi-
tatlon OF the track OF any inky fly, Arabic
characters.
The individual who was then being examined
was an Arab clerk In an European house, in
whose accounts a deficiency of some hundreds
of pounds had been discovered Being of a
respectable family he was accommodated with
chair, the witness under examination being
invited to take another chair near him the
Prosecution was smoking on the divan, beside
the president, and the dragoman of the consu-
late TO which the prosecutor belonged sat near
bG, being Sr O5fcio a member of the tribuna,
The forms OF procedure were simple enough.
There was no Indictment. The principal sec
retary asked the prisoner what he mad done
with the money. The accused replied that
some one must have stolen il and then every
one put in question an observation, as the
spirit moved him, urging the prisoner to tell
the truth. &c. The law Of evidence in Syria IL
the simplest thing in the world You ask any
questions you Ike; you express your opinion
as to the veracity Of the answers; and fly OF
TO any collateral inquiry that may suit you.
In the midst of the examination the accused
named one Of his feilows-clerks as the person
be suspected, and a janissary was sent to fetch
him, the court smoking and canvaSsing the ey-
idence openly IN the meantime. The new gunsi-
eulprit had witnesses 10 explain various suspi-
eious matters laid to his charge. These had to
be cent for, and as they were Of a lower grade
they went through form of oath repeating it
after one OF the scrIbes, and gave their evidence
standing behind the old clerk OF the court out
side the limit OF the dlSans. Prisoner witnesses
scnbes, and judges, talked when they lik Ell
and sometimes altogether and at the end of
the nrSt day sitting nothing had been done 10
throw light On the case; but the prisoner de-
mande1 that his fellow clerks house should be
searched, which was accordingly done.
second and third day passed much in the
same style, but on the last day it pretty
generally understood :hat Il verdict would be
given, and the cO-relisionists Of the culprit
among the members uf the tribunal mustered
IN great force, for he was Mlronite Christian,
and the question Of guilt or Innocence was less
thought oil than the scandal of a conviction
would bring on his friends ard on the mem
bers Of his creed. The president of the tribunal
being 1 ark, aud apparently having clearer
notions of justice than the Christiaus, at once
expressed bis opinion that the prisoner was
guilty, tut that there were exteE uating cir
eumstances, and that the missing cash could
not be traced to him, So that il was difficult to
tx the theft directly upon him.
The president believed that the man had
only lent the money, intending ultimately to
replace It 80 he thought al i'm mprisOnment for
three months, and an order to repay the sum-
would meet the justice OF the case The prose-
cutor was asked what punishment he demanded
1t MAS explained to him that IL he adopted the
suggestion Of the president. the Christians Of
the Tribunal would bargain for a shorter term,
So he treated the matter Us he would trans
action for bale of goods, and asked for a
years Imprisonment, intending to take the
three months proposed. After long haggling
this latter WAS adopted, and, with another
series of salaams we left the tribunal, highly
edited by the proceedings
ES- Lat week in Cincinnati, a wager was la ID
by a Scotehman that he could Kill Twelve rats
In rennlar dog fashion. In los Time Than a