e hall where the Court holds its
public sittings.

Imagine the emotions with which the bankrupt, susceptible by nature
to the awe of such accessories, went up that stairway to the hall of
judgment, surrounded by his nearest friends,--Lebas, president of the
Court of Commerce, Camusot his former judge, Ragon, and Monsieur l'Abbe
Loraux his confessor. The pious priest made the splendors of human
justice stand forth in strong relief by reflections which gave them
still greater solemnity in Cesar's eyes. Pillerault, the practical
philosopher, fearing the danger of unexpected events on the worn mind of
his nephew, had schemed to prepare him by degrees for the joys of this
festal day. Just as Cesar finished dressing, a number of his faithful
friends arrived, all eager for the honor of accompanying him to the bar
of the Court. The presence of this retinue roused the honest man to an
elation which gave him strength to meet the imposing spectacle in the
halls of justice. Birotteau found more friends awaiting him in the
solemn audience chamber, where about a dozen members of the council were
in session.

After the cases were called over, Birotteau's attorney made his demand
for reinstatement in the usual terms. On a sign from the presiding
judge, the _procureur-general_ rose. In the name of his office this
public prosecutor, the representative of public vindictiveness, asked
that honor might be restored to the merchant who had never really lost
it,--a solitary instance of such an appeal; for a condemned man can
only be pardoned. Men of honor alone can imagine the emotions of Cesar
Birotteau as he heard Monsieur de Grandville pronounce a speech, of
which the following is an abridgement:--

"Gentlemen," said that celebrated official, "on the 16th of
January, 1820, Birotteau was declared a bankrupt by the commercial
tribunal of the Seine. His failure was not caused by imprudence,
nor by rash speculations, nor by any act that stained his honor.
We desire to say publicly that this failure was the result of a
disaster which has again and again occurred, to the detriment of
justice and the great injury of the city of Paris. It has been
reserved for our generation, in which the bitter leaven of
republican principles and manners will long be felt, to behold the
notariat of Paris abandoning the glorious traditions of preceding
centuries, and producing in a few years as many failures as two
centuries of the old m