., and
encloses jealously the beautiful Sainte-Chapelle, the slender spire of
which and the great angel rise so incongruously over these secular
buildings devoted to windy and dusty Law.

Through the great gilded gates which from the Boulevard du Palais lead
into the Cour du Mai the visitor enters this ancient building, now
almost completely rebuilt by the restorations which have been going on
since 1840. Turning to the right, he passes into the great Salle des
Pas-Perdus, and from that into the long Galerie des Prisonniers, which
traverses the whole length of the Palais from east to west, and which
was originally constructed by Philippe le Bel. This gallery gives access
to the halls of audiences of the three Chambres of the Cour de Cassation
and the Galerie Saint-Louis. A curious detail of municipal
administration is connected with this supreme court. Though from an
architectural point of view it is undoubtedly an integral part of the
Palais de Justice, it is considered from an administrative point of view
as a separate construction, appertaining to the direction of civil
edifices, having its separate budget for construction and maintenance
and its special architect. This variety of budgets and services extends
throughout the building, the different institutions and tribunals under
its roofs being considered as belonging to different branches of the
administration. The State alone has charge of that portion of the
building occupied by the Cour de Cassation; that occupied by the Cour
d'Appel comes under the authority of the Minister of the Interior, since
the costs of the maintenance of this court are supplied by a group of
the departments of the nation. The department of the Seine and the City
of Paris have each their portion in the costs of construction and of
maintenance of the building, that of the city being by no means the
lightest. The Galerie des Prisonniers, for example, on the ground-floor
appertains both to the City of Paris and to the State, since on one side
it communicates with the Cour de Cassation; the basement, which is a
dependency of the Depot and of the Conciergerie, belongs both to the
city and to the department of the Seine, and the upper story is equally
divided in its allegiance. So that, if there is a question of replacing
a tile in the pavement, of repairing a ceiling, or of repainting a wall,
the architect is obliged to divide the cost, to a centime, between the
State, the Minister of the Inte