Anatole France

In every sentence pronounced by a judge in the name of the sovereign
people, dwells the whole majesty of justice. The august character of
that justice was brought home to JÉr"me Crainquebille, costermonger,
when, accused of having insulted a policeman, he appeared in the po-
lice court. Having taken his place in the dock, he beheld in the imposing
somber hall magistrates, clerks, lawyers in their robes, the usher wear-
ing his chains, gendarmes, and, behind a rail, the bare heads of the si-
lent spectators. He, himself, occupied a raised seat, as if some sinister
honor were conferred on the accused by his appearance before the
magistrate. At the end of the hall, between two assessors, sat the Presi-
dent Bourriche. The palm leaves of an officer of the Academy deco-
rated his breast. Over the tribune were a bust representing the Repub-
lic and a crucifix, as if to indicate that all laws divine and human were
suspended over Crainquebille's head. Such symbols naturally inspired
him with terror. Not being gifted with a philosophic mind, he did not
inquire the meaning of the bust and the crucifix; he did not ask how far
Jesus and the symbolical bust harmonized in the law courts. Never-
theless, here was matter for reflection; for, after all, pontifical teaching
and canon law are in many points opposed to the constitution of the
Republic and to the civil code. So far as we know, the Decretals have
not been abolished. Today, as formerly, the Church of Christ teaches

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