Page:The kingdom and people of Siam - with a narrative of the mission to that country in 1855 (IA b29352447 0001).pdf/210

 176 accuser is condemned to punishment, and to the costs of the suit. Blows of bamboo are used to force criminals to confess-to name their accomplices, who are seized as soon as denounced. Pallegoix says that there is a universal venality among the judges, and that litigated cases end generally in the ruin of both the contending parties,* -a result not confined to Siam. The capital is divided into districts, each being under the control of a commissary of police; but there is no patrol, nor ambulatory watch. Disorders and tumults are rare, and dealt with in so summary and arbitrary a way, that it seems everybody's interest to keep the peace. When it is disturbed, the police seize upon all persons indiscriminately; and lucky is the man who escapes from prison without having been severely fleeced. The ordinary modus procedendi before a Siamese tribunal is sufficiently simple. The plaint is brought forward in writing, copied, and read to the com- plainant; it is sealed with prepared clay, and an impression made in the clay by the complainant's nail. A synopsis of the plaint is sent to the defen- dant, who puts in his answer, which is copied and sealed. When the case is appointed for hearing, an attempt at conciliation is made; if it fail, the deposi- tions on both sides are read. The witnesses may be examined as to their depositions. When the evidence is gone through, the subordinate judges give their opinions in writing; these are referred to the chief *Pallegoix, i. 361.