from the judges, and even from the litigants themselves. One day an old woman went to one of the new foreign judges, crouched at his feet, and sobbed out a bitter tale of cruel wrong. She was engaged in some trivial lawsuit with a relative, and she alleged that she could not get her rights because the judge was receiving bribes. "My cousin," said she, "sends the judge presents of flowers and fruit, and I know what is hidden in the basket." She dwelt on the enormity of the offence and the suffering she endured thereby, and the foreigner listened with great interest. At last he remarked, "Well, what do you want me to do for you?" The woman, her eyes bright with hope, answered him, "Next week the case is coming before you, and if you will only pronounce a verdict in my favour, I too will make you a present of fruit and flowers." The laws of the country do not admit of being catalogued or described in any brief manner, as they occupy seventy volumes of closely printed Siamese, a mass of legal literature which it is obviously impossible to condense for the purposes of this chapter. There are two courts for the trial of criminal cases, and a number of minor courts for the trial of civil cases in Bangkok. There is also an International Court where the subjects of different nations attempt to settle their differences with the natives. As far as Englishmen are concerned, this court is practically useless; for owing to the lackadaisical manner in which the affairs of Englishmen are dealt with by the members of the British consulate, the native judges know full well that they can always give their own countrymen every possible benefit of the slightest doubt. A remark once made by a Siamese to an English resident is only too true--"What good are your Consuls and Ministers to you? If I bring a case against you in your court, I shall win it, and if you bring a case against me in my court, I am equally certain you will lose it." There are provincial courts for dealing with minor offences in the outlying districts, but the judges in these courts have no power to sentence a man to death unless such power is directly given them by the king himself.