leaden balustrade which surrounds the roof, the arcades which form a
gallery, and are carried along the whole of the entablature, lastly, the
elegant octangular turret which occupies the middle of the facade and
separates it into two equal parts, are of the greatest beauty and purity
of taste, in spite of a certain mixture in the style, which
characterizes the transition from gothic architecture to that of the
_renaissance_, style which already began to be in use. The name of the
architect, unknown till recently, is Roger Ango.

At the farther end of the salle des Procureurs is a door, which leads
into the ancient _Grand Chambre_ (great Chamber), in which the court of
assizes are now held. This hall may be considered as the finest in the
kingdom. The ceiling, which is divided into sculptured compartments,
decorated with gilt bronze ornaments, is of oak to which time has given
the appearance of ebony. The whole of the flooring was formerly covered
with _arabesques_, according to the custom of the reign of Lewis the
XIIth. From this floor, an ancient fire place which existed in the
_Chambre de Conseil_, or Counsel Hall, a curious painting which the
antiquarian Millin mentions in his _national antiquities_ and on which
witnesses were sworn have all disappeared.

On the exterior, only two parts of this elegant edifice, that which is
exposed to the setting sun, and the middle one to the south, have
retained their primitive beauty. The latter is now under repair and
renovation. At the commencement of the last century, the modern portion
of the building which faces the west, was erected. The front of this
building fell to the ground on the 10th of april 1812, and brought down
with it the whole ceiling, which was painted by the celebrated Jouvenet,
who, having his right hand paralysed, painted with his left, and in a
manner worthy of such a painter, the _Triumph of Justice_.