lty. By this
simple process, the forty-five thousand cases are tried in the course of
the year.

The Tribunal de Simple Police is provided with apartments on the
ground-floor, almost in the basement, of the Palais de Justice, under
the stone arches that date from Saint-Louis, and where the atmosphere is
always damp, chilly, and sombre. The Juges de Paix, in addition to their
civil functions, are charged with sitting in judgment upon these petty
misdemeanors, and they take their places in the Tribunal alternately, a
week at a time. In addition to the Juges de Paix, the court is composed
of three Commissaires de Police, delegated by the Procureur general, who
fulfil the functions of the Ministere Public, one as Chef de Service,
the two others as Substituts, and of a Greffier en chef and of four
commis-Greffiers.

A grade higher in the judiciary scale is the Tribunal Correctionnel,
which sits in the wing of the Palais on the south side of the court of
the Sainte-Chapelle, and which occupies itself with what may be called
the bourgeois of crime and poverty. The sittings of this court draw so
many spectators that the visitor is frequently stopped at the entrance
by the Garde Municipal, who says: "_C'est complet!_" like an omnibus
conductor when his vehicle is full. Four Chambers are devoted to the
sittings of this court, two on the first floor, and two on the second;
on each of these stories is a Salle des Pas-Perdu. All these halls of
justice are thronged by such a compact and democratic crowd that one of
the attributes of the magistrates is a little flask of vinegar or
smelling-salts placed on the bench, by the side of the Code, before each
of the three judges of the Tribunal and before the Substitut. The
avocats do not enjoy this privilege, nor the Greffiers unless they have
been very long in the service of the court. Here, also, the pressure of
affairs is so great that the judges leave the bench, saying to their
consciences: "Well! those who are innocent can appeal!" The terror and
ennui of the law are, however, so great that but very few of those
condemned do thus appeal. One of the characteristics of this tribunal of
the Police Correctionnelle is the number of _avocats raccrocheurs_ who
infest it in the search for clients of any degree, and who seem to bear
a close resemblance to that unsavory class known in New York as "Tombs
lawyers," or "shysters."

In the rear of the Palais, looking out on the Place Dauphine, is