While teaching, I also worked undercover in the lower courts by

Hear, O seekers of truth, the testimony of Samuel Dash, who bore witness not only in the lofty halls of law but in the hidden corners of corruption. He spoke thus: “While teaching, I also worked undercover in the lower courts by saying I was a young law teacher wanting experience in criminal law. The judges were happy to assist me but what I learned was how corrupt the lower courts were. Judges were accepting money right in the courtroom.” These words strike not merely as confession, but as a cry of warning to all generations. For when the guardians of justice become traffickers in dishonor, the very pillars of society tremble.

The origin of these words lies in Dash’s early journey, when he sought not only to teach law but to understand its practice in the daily lives of men. He went not in arrogance, but disguised in humility, seeking wisdom. Yet what he found was not the majesty of justice, but the rot of betrayal. Judges, who should have been the voice of fairness, were instead merchants of verdicts. In the very temple where law should be sacred, money clinked louder than conscience.

This lesson is not new. Recall the ancient tale of Socrates, who stood trial in Athens. Though innocent of true crime, he was condemned, for envy and politics outweighed truth. His judges, swayed by whispers and not by justice, sent him to drink the hemlock. Even in the cradle of democracy, corruption could bend the scales. Thus Samuel Dash’s discovery was no isolated evil, but part of a shadow that follows humanity whenever power is clothed in flesh.

History too gives us the story of the Roman governor Pontius Pilate, who, though finding no fault in Jesus, yielded to the crowd’s demands and condemned him. He washed his hands as though water could cleanse cowardice, but the stain of injustice remained. What was this, if not another courtroom where truth was sold for convenience, where law bent to the weight of pressure and coin? Dash’s revelation was the same old story, told in modern robes.

What then shall we learn? That corruption may hide even in those sworn to righteousness. That vigilance must never sleep. That every generation must examine its courts, its leaders, its judges, and its own hearts, lest justice be bought and sold. Law without integrity is no law at all; it is a mask for tyranny. If the judges can be bribed, then the people themselves stand enslaved, for their rights depend on the whim of purchase, not on the shield of truth.

Yet there is hope, for Dash did not despair. By exposing the darkness, he held up a lamp. He showed that silence breeds corruption, but courage unmasks it. Just as fire tests the gold, so trials test the soul of a people. The path forward is not to abandon justice, but to reclaim it, to demand that those who sit in judgment be held to the highest standard, watched not with suspicion but with accountability.

O children of tomorrow, learn this and carry it with you: never leave justice to others without watchfulness. Question with courage, expose with honesty, and defend with resolve. If you should enter positions of trust, let not money or fear sway you, for the eyes of history will weigh you more heavily than any bribe. And when you see corruption, do not turn away, but be as Dash was—willing to uncover, willing to speak, willing to shine light where shadows reign.

So the teaching is this: truth must be guarded daily, for corruption never sleeps. Courts, laws, leaders, even nations must be measured not by words but by deeds. Walk therefore with integrity, seek justice, and uphold it, for in doing so you strengthen not only your own soul but the very fabric of society. Let Dash’s words echo as a warning: when the scales of justice are bought, the people’s freedom is sold.