a basket of
strawberries!" The humble _saumatre_ was now the Marechal de Mac-Mahon.

Sometimes the President of the Republique, or the Minister of War, on
the occasion of some solemnity, requests the _Poireau_ to grant a
_sortie galette_. Sometimes a personage _croco_--that is to say,
distinguished foreigner--visits the school; then the cry is: "_Calot,
les hommes! calot! sortie galette!_"

On these great occasions, the pupils who have secured this coveted
privilege of an outing assemble in the cour d'Austerlitz or the cour
Wagram to be formally inspected by the captain of the week. "Oh! this
inspection!" says an ex-eleve; "I know nothing more terrible, more
feared, and more to be feared. How many laborious efforts, how many
cherished hopes, are made naught before this inflexible judge, who, for
the slightest spot, the smallest grain of dust, transforms into bitter
sadness the secret exultation of a heart which felt itself full of the
joy of existence! One day, when I had painfully acquired my _petites
moyennes_, the captain halted in front of me. I was confident; I felt
myself to be irreproachable. 'Give me your promission!' said he,
suddenly. And, before my eyes, sarcastically, he tore into fragments
this talisman of my liberty;--it appeared that the contact of my cheek
with the collar of my capote had left on the latter the almost
imperceptible touch of a little rice-powder! There was nothing for me to
do but to go back to my chamber, resume my working costume, and increase
the number of _petits-cos_, prisoners."

Without going into the infinite details of the administration of justice
in the capital, it may suffice to indicate briefly the different
attributes and functions of the four great courts of Paris. These are:
Cour de Cassation, which sits in the Palais de Justice; the Cour des
Comptes, at the Palais-Royal; the Cour d'Appel, at the Palais de
Justice; and the Cour d'Assises, at the Palais de Justice. The duties of
the first of these--at the present moment occupying so large a share of
the attention of the civilized world--are briefly stated to be "to
maintain the sound and uniform application of the laws." This court sits
in judgment on all demands for the quashing of judgment and decrees
rendered by courts of the last resort; it decides upon the demands for
transferral from one court to another, in case of legitimate suspicion
or for the benefit of the public security, conflicts of jurisdiction,
and decis