the mental hospital which prompted him to deliver this attack on the CUP's betrayal of constitutionalism and gave the name to the speech when it appeared in book form. The basic lesson he had learnt from these Two Schools of Misfortune was "compassion for the weak and an intense detestation of tyranny." [^190]

[^190]:Ibid., 39.

The military courts were fairly awesome affairs with the pashas and officers who were acting as judges haughty and autocratic and holding absolute power of life and death over those brought before them. Formalities were of the most summary nature, and the sentences and executions carried out immediately. The day Bediuzzaman was brought before the court in Bayezid, the corpses of fifteen of its victims could be seen hanging in the square beyond the windows.

At the beginning of the hearing, Bediuzzaman was asked a number of questions put to all the accused. One of these, asked by Hurşid Pasha, the President of the Court, was: "Did you want the Shari'a? Those wanting the Shari'a are hanged like those out there." Bediuzzaman replied:

"If I had a thousand lives, I would be ready to sacrifice all of them for one truth of the Shari'a, for the Shari'a is the source of prosperity and happiness, pure justice, and virtue. But not like those who revolted want it."

Then he was asked: "Are you a member of the Muhammadan Union?" To which he replied:

"With pride. I am one of its most insignificant members, but in the way that I define it. Show me someone apart from those without religion who is not a member."

Bediuzzaman told the court:

"Pashas and officers! By way of introduction I say: the manly and brave do not stoop to crime. And if they are accused of it, they do not fear the punishment. If I am executed unjustly, I shall gain the reward of two martyrs. And if I remain in prison, it is probably the most comfortable place of a tyrannical government whose freedom consists thus only of the word. To die oppressed is better than to live as oppressor." [^191]

[^191]:Ibid., 11-12.

The main part of Bediuzzaman's long defence took the form of describing the eleven and a half "crimes" for which he had been imprisoned. These were his main activities in the nine months of Freedom, and were all in the cause of Islam and the Constitution. They have mostly been described above, including his reasons for joining the Muhammadan Union and how he viewed it, and his movements during the revolt. Bediuzzaman