prison before being sent before the court martial, which he described as a place of torture; it was this together with his experience of 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."

The military courts were fairly awesome affairs with the pasas 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 Hursid Pasa, the President of the Court, was: "Did you want the Seriat? Those wanting the Seriat 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 Seriat, for the Seriat 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 Society For Muslim Unity?" 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:

"Pasas 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, prison is