DESCRIPTION OF THE NEW PALACE OF JUSTICE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XIX, Issue 6569, 6 December 1882, Page 5

DESCRIPTION OF THE NEW PALACE OF JUSTICE.

It is eight years since the herculeaa task of erecting the new Palace of Justice, near the site of Old Temple B.ir, in the Strand, commenced. Great architectural bec.uty is attained by the mixture of red brick and stone, the tesselated pavements, the stained windows, the infinite variety of carving and other ornamentation. The style is, perhaps, too ecclesiastical ; and there is a less doubtful defect iu the lighting of the interior. The acoustic requirements of the Courts are consulted by lining each of them with oak, aud arching alcoves of oak above the Judges' thrones. A million cubic feet of brown stone have been brought round from the Portland quarries to be piled up here: and 35,000,(.00 bricks have been used in the edifice. Thousands of men have been employed in the eight years o£ construction. The new courts are grouped, round a central hall, but considerably above its level. The hall is entered from the Strand, under an elaborate Gothic arch, supported by columns of polished Aberdeen granite, led aud gr.iy. Abo\c is scroll work, and a series of bus:s. These faces, carved in stone, represent the s:ii>es of the common law, justiciars, and Chief Justices of England, tile Jud<je who rebuked the King's son among thein, while high above, on the gables ot two courts to left and right, stand statues of .Solomon and Alfred. The central and highest figure, in a line with the 3ummit u.f the entrance arch, but far above it, is that of the Saviour. The lofty windows are ornamented with shields, which bear the arms of the Chancellors from the earliest times to that of Lord •Selborne. iieneath the winnows are broad squares of stone, on which the judicial history of the country has yet to be emblazoned in fresco. The floor of the hall is a mosaic pavement. Four elaborate arched portals on each side lead out of the great hall. One of the courts is adorned with curious illustrations in stone of .rKsop's fables, which are doubtless intended to have a sly reference to the fates of suitors. On one side the ape exhorts the cat to put her paw in the fire 1 0 draw him out the chestnuts ; here the fox is seeu entertaining the stork, and the stork taking revenge upon sly Reynard.. The wolf reproaches the kid with injustice,, the dog refuses to quit possession ot" the manger, another greedy dog loses his substance in the water while he pursues the shadow of au advantage, the mouse releases the lion from the toils of the hunter. The courts themselves are of varying sizes and dimensions. Each is a separate building between the hall on the one side and the outer shell of the palace on the other. Each court has a public gallery of wood, each has commodious seats for the associates and for solicitors, as well as for the Bar. The old deep " well " is abolished In some courts the solititors will face the Judge, in others will have their backs to him. The building has been erected from designs by the late Mr. Street, and has cost nearly a million pounds.