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THE INNER AND MIDDLE TEMPLE 



THE INNEK 
AND MIDDLE TEMPLE 

LEGAL, LITERARY, AND HISTORIC 
ASSOCIATIONS 



BY 



HUGH H. L. BELLOT, M.A., B.C.L 

OF TRINITY COLLEGE, OXFORD 
AND OF THE INNER TEMPLE, UARRISTER-AT-LAW 



> > 

' > i 



WITH NINETY ILLUSTRATIONS 



LONDON 
METHUEN & CO. 

NEW YORK 

JAMES POTT & CO. 

1902 



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DEDICATED 

TO 

MY SPECIAL FOUR 



430743 



PREFACE 



ALTHOUGH much has been written concerning 
the Temple, curiously enough the subject has 
never yet been exclusively treated as a whole. As 
the "Bibliography" in the Appendix shows, almost 
countless books are in existence dealing with different 
phases in the life of the Temple. To the histories of 
the Knights Templars, of the Church, of the Inns of 
Court, to books and periodicals in which some 
features of one or other of the two Honourable 
Societies which occupy the Temple have been dealt 
with, to the records of each Inn, some unfinished 
and some even unpublished, must be added the 
biographies of innumerable personages connected 
with this historic spot. 

Without any pretensions to thoroughness or com- 
pleteness, an attempt has been here made to bring 
within the covers of one volume, in a connected 
form, the more interesting facts gathered from these 
varied sources. This little book is intended to 
serve a double purpose. It has been designed as 
a popular account of the Temple and its inmates, 
and as a guide for those who are so fortunate as to 

vii 



viii PREFACE 

be able to visit these historic monuments of our 
national life. 

In a work of this description it has been impossible 
to acknowledge my indebtedness to previous authori- 
ties, and I can only take this opportunity of saying 
that I have not hesitated to draw without reserve 
upon the books referred to in the " Bibliography," as 
well as upon other works containing passing allu- 
sions to my subject. 

For much valuable assistance in the preparation 
of this "Bibliography" I hasten to express my 
obligation to Mr. Walter T. Rogers, sub-librarian 
to the Inner Temple. 

I am fully sensible that the "illustrations" form 
the principal attraction to this volume. It is entirely 
owing to the kindness of several friends that I have 
been able to reproduce so many features in the past 
life of the Temple. To Sir Harry Poland, K.C., late 
Treasurer, and to the Masters of the Bench of the 
Inner Temple my thanks are especially due for per- 
mission to reproduce for the first time two paintings 
by Hogarth and a water colour of the old Hall. 
With unselfish generosity, my learned friend Mr. 
Charles A. Pope placed the whole of his valuable 
collection of engravings and prints of the Temple at 
my disposal, from which fifteen are here reproduced. 
To Mr. George H. Birch, f.s.a., I am indebted for 
the charming drawing of " Fountain Court." 

The sketches of the buildings as they stand to-day 
are from the pencil of Miss Wylie, and I venture to 



PREFACE ix 

think that their simpHcity and truthfulness will 
appeal strongly to all lovers of the Temple. The 
great majority are taken from my own photo- 
graphs, but the following are drawn from photo- 
graphs by Mr. Horatio Nelson King, viz. the 
Exterior of the Church, the Cloisters, the Master's 
House, and the Gateway to Temple Gardens. 

The following illustrations have been reproduced 
from photographs by the same artist, viz. the Inner 
Temple Hall, East End ; the Inner Temple Hall and 
Library ; the Statues of the Knights Templars and 
Knights Hospitallers ; the Middle Temple Hall, 
West End, and the Corridor to the Parliament 
Chambers in the Middle Temple. The illustration 
of *' The King's Bench Walk" is from a photograph 
by "The Photographic Tourists' Association." 

Finally, I here express my thanks to Mr. J. E. L. 
Pickering, Librarian to the Inner Temple, for some 
valuable advice and information. 

H. H. L. B. 

9, King's Bench Walk 

TlCMI'I.K 

July, 1902 



A 2 



CONTENTS 



CHAPTER I 

EARLY HISTORY OF THE TEMPLE 

Associations, legal, literary, and historic — A legal university — The 
Knights Templars — The Knights Hospitallers — The lawyers — 
The Temple crests — The conflict of the Common Law with the 
Civil Law and the Canon Law — The constitution of an Inn of 
Court ...... Page i 

CHAPTER n 

15UILDINGS IN THE INNER TEMl'LE AND SOME OF THEIR INMATES 

The Hall— The Lilirary and Parliament Chanil)ers— Cloister Court 
— Tanfield Court —Okl l)uildingsin the outer garden — Mitre Court 
Buildings — King's Bench Walk — Paper Puildings— Crown Office 
Row — Ilarcourt Puildings— Fig Tree Court — Hare Court — The 
Court of Wards and Liveries — Dick's Coffee House — Inner 
Temple Lane — Churchyard Court— ^Parson's Court — The Inner 
Temple gateway — The Inner Tenij)le plate . . . 40 

CHAPTER III 

HISTORICAL SKETCH OF THE INNER TEMl'LE 

The records — Wat Tyler — Chaucer — The J 'as/on /.^//tv-s — Shake- 
speare — The Inns of Court and the tournament at Smithfield — 
Sir Thomas Lyttelton — Henry VII. and the lawyers — Henry 
VIII. and the Westminster tournament — Serjeants' feast at Ely 
Place — The great plague — Cardinal Wolsey — Thomas Audley — 
John Beaumont — Increase of meml)ers under lOdward VI. — The 
Reformation and the martyrs — Exclusion of attorneys — Renewed 
prosperity under Elizabeth — The rising in the North — Assassina- 
tion plots — Trial of Mary Queen of Scots — Some distinguished 
members — The Gunpowder Plot — The barriers — John Hawarile 
— Sir Thomas Coventry — Sir Roliert Heath — Sir Edward 
Lyttelton — Hampden — The great Civil War — John Crokc — 
Unton Croke — Penruddock — Robert Pye — Lord Fielding — 
Mark Trevor — Thomas Wentworth — Robert Phelips — William 
Browne — Robert Devereux and Lady F'rances — Sir Richard 
Onslow— The Commonwealth — The regiciiies — Heneage Finch 
— John Keelyng — William Wycherley . . . , I18 

xi 



xii CONTENTS 

CHAPTER IV 

HlSrORICAL SKETCH OF THE INNER TEMPLE [conlinued) 

The great fire— Sir Christopher Wren— Rye House Plot— Francis 
Pemberton— Trial of seven bishops— William Williams— Robert 
Sawyer — Bartholomew Shower — Pollexfen — Levinz — Trehy — 
Somers— The King's Brewer and the tobacco pijje— Sir John 
Trevor— Portraits in the Hall— Pegasus— Simon Harcourt— Sir 
Thomas Trevor— Earl of Macclesfield— Masters in Chancery and 
South Sea Bubble— Peter King— Robert Henley— Charles Pratt 
—English for Latin— Charles Talbot and the revels— P^ire of 
1737— Wedderl)urn, Franklin, and Timius— Charles Abbott- 
Henry Hallam— Arthur Hallam- Tennyson— John Austin- 
Baron Parke— The chops of the Channel— Thomas Wilde— A. H. 
Thesiger— A. L. Smith— The Masters of the Bench . Page 143 

CHAPTER V 

THE ORDER OF THE COIF 

Origin and rise— Robes— The coif and the white lawn of the 
Templars— St. Thomas of Acre— His chapel in Cheapside— 
Pillars at St. Paul's— Scroope's Inn— Serjeants' rings— Ser- 
jeants' feasts— Decay of the Order— Serjeants' Inn, Fleet Street 
—Held of the Dean and Chapter of York— Serjeant Rudhale 
and his "silvour spone "— The great fire— The garden— Ser- 
jeants' Inn, Chancery Lane— Freeholder the Bishop of Ely- 
Rebuilt by Lord Keeper Guilford . . . . 166 

CHAPTER VI 

THE REVELS 

At the Inner Temple— Oxford and Cambridge revels— Christmas 
revels of 1561 and the Earl of Leicester— Gerald Legh— Christmas 
revels described by Dugdale and Hone— At the Middle Temple— 
Bulstrode Whitelucke— Christmas revels described by Warton . 174 

CHAPTER VII 

THE MASQUE 

The Masque— St. Valentine's Day, 16 1 2— Francis Beaumont— Ely 
House to Whitehall— 77^^ Inner Temple Masque, by Browne 
— The Masque of /r«wj— Masque of 1633 — Described by 
Bulstrode Whitelocke— Charles and Henrietta . . . 184 

CHAPTER VIII 

STAGE PLAYS 

Tragedie of Gorboduc and Thomas Sackville— Norton— Christopher 
Hatton— Ely House— Dr. Heton and Elizabeth— William Under- 
bill and Shakespeare— "Anticks or puppits "—Plays of the 
Restoration— Beaumont and Fletcher— Ben Jonson— Shirley— 
Etheridge — Dryden — Howard — Ravenscro'ft — Wycherley — 
Durfey— Otway— Lord Chancellor Talbot and the revels of 1733 
— Love J or Love and The Devil to /'aj— Entertaiiunents of to-day 192 



CONTENTS xiii 

CHAPTER IX 

RIGHT OF SANCTUARY 

Immemorial custom — The Reformation — Disorderly asylums — 
Church and churchyard — Ram Alley, Mitre Court, and King's 
Bench Walk — Fuller's Rents — Alsatia — Shadwell's Squire of 
Alsatia — Scott's Fo7-tunes of Nigel — Riot over the Tudor Street 
gate ...... Page 201 

CHAPTER X 

THE TEMPLE CHURCH 

Harmony between the two societies in their care for the church — 
The Round — Dedication — Consecration — Knights Templars and 
secret societies — Masonic symbols — The monumental effigies — 
Font— Chapel of St. Anne— Initiation of novices — The porch — 
The choir — Dedication — Monuments — Muniment chest — Stained 
glass — Frescoes — The penitential cell — The triforium — The 
Master — John Bartylby, 1378 — Master's territory — Master 
Ermsted — Dr. Hooker — Restoration of church — Compulsory 
attendance of members — Dr. Masters — Dr. Micklethwaite — 
His claims — Hudibras and the Round — John Playford's petition 
— Sawyer's bell — Restoration of 16S2 — Father Smith and Harris 
— Ancient inscription — Thomas Sherlock — Dr. Thurlow — The 
pyx — Berengar's seal — Restoration in 1840 — The communion 
plate— The Master's house . . ... 206 

CHAPTER XI 

THE INNS OF CHANCERY 

Origin — Relation to Inns of Court — Decay — Inns affiliated to the 
Inner Temple — Clifford's, Clement's, and Lyon's Inns — Inns 
affiliated to the Middle Temple — Strand Inn — New Inn— Inns 
affiliated to Lincoln's Inn — Thavie's Inn — Furnival's Inn- 
Inns affiliated to Gray's Inn — Staple Inn — Barnard's Inn . . 232 

CHAPTER XII 

THE TEMl'LE GARDENS 

The Inner Temple garden — Gardener's house — The great garden- 
Gardener's house in Middle Temple Lane — The black boy — Sir 
Roger de Coverley and The Spectator — Arthur Pendennis and 
Fanny Bolton — Meditation in the gardens — John Hutchinson . 247 

CHAPTER XIII 

THE TEMPLE STAIRS 

The Temple Bridge and the Knights Templars — Edward HI. and 
the Mayor — Dame Eleanor Cobham — Queen Elizabeth — The 
new bridge of 1620 — The great frost, 1683 — Frost Fair and 
Charles II. — Sir Roger de Coverley — The Embankment and 
new pier . . . . ... 253 



xiv CONTENTS 

CHAPTER XIV 

THE devil's own 

Martial judges — Edward II. 's camp in the gardens — Wars of the 
Roses — Spanish Armada — Charles I. and the Inns of Court — 
Attempted arrest of the Five Members — The great Civil War — 
Lyttelton — Heath — Cromwell — Battle of La Hogue — In '45 — 
French Revolution — Review in Hyde Park — Embodiment of 
the "Devil's Own" — Prominent members — South African War 
— Banquets in the Halls — Kenyon- Parker — Havelock — Herbert 
Stewart — Evelyn Wood . . . . Page 257 

CHAPTER XV 

TEMPLE BAR 

The bars — The old wooden gate — Temple Bar — Queen Victoria — 
Mary — Elizabeth — Charles I. — Cromwell — Charles II. — Anne — 
Evelyn — Pope in effigy — Titus Gates — De Foe — Heads of rebels 
and Dr. Johnson — Removal to Meux Park . . . 264 

CHAPTER XVI 

BUILDINGS IN THE MIDDLE TEMPLE AND SOME 
OF THEIR INMATES 

Rivalry with the Inner Temple — The gate-house — Cardinal Wolsey 
and Pawlet — Shirley — The old post - house — Child's Place — 
Dickens and Telson's — The Devil's Tavern — Ben Jonson — 
Steele, Bickerstaff, and Swift — Royal Society — Dr. Johnson — 
Wynkyn de Worde — Fountain Court — John Westlock and Ruth 
Pinch — Brick Court — Spenser — Goldsmith — Blackstone — The 
Hall — Plowden — The screen — The armour — Drake's table — 
The wainscot — The louvre — Heraldic glass — The paintings — 
The oak coffer — The old colours — Brass lantern — Old shops — 
Parliament Chambers — Old oak door — Portraits — The corridor 
—Armour — Engravings and paintings — Greek sepulchral monu- 
ment — John Manningham and Twelfth Night — Charles Knight 
— Elizabeth and her Court — Raleigh's trial — The library — The 
old library — Robert Ashley's bequest — The garden — ^John 
Herbert — John Hutchinson — Garden Court — Temple Gardens — 
The Outer Temple— Middle Temple Lane — Barbon's Buildings — 
Elm Court — The Brothers North — Luther Buildings — Plowden's 
Buildings — Vine Court — Pump Court — Fielding, Russell, Black- 
stone, and Lord Alverstone — Sundial — Essex Court — Evelyn — 
New Court — The Cloisters — Finch — Goldsmith Building — 
Lamb Building — Sir William Jones — Thomas Day — Benjamin — 
Pendennis and Warrington — Thackeray and Venables . . 268 



CONTENTS XV 

CHAPTER XVII 

HISTORICAL SKETCH OF THE MIDDLE TEMPLE 

Plowden — Popham — Rising of Essex — John Ford — Edward 
Montague— Richard Rich— Serjeants' feast — John Davies and 
Richard Martin — Robert Broke — Serjeant Fleetwood — Francis 
Moore- -Dyer — Francis Drake — Blomer and the Star Chamber — 
Sumptuary Statutes — Edward Phelips — Henry Montague — 
Masque of 1613 — Serjeants' feast — Bagshawe — Bramston — 
Berkeley— James Whitelocke— The plague— Nicholas Hyde- 
Talbot and Richard Pepys — Legal jargon — Bulstrode White- 
locke— Born in Fleet Street— Oxford Sessions— Lilburne, Jermyn, 
and Prideaux — Evelyn and Strafford — Execution of regicides— 
Ashmole— John Tradescant— Ashmolean Museum— Charlton's 
collection— Hans Sloane— British Museum— Quarrel with the 
City — Fire of 1678 — Sir William Turner and the fire engine — 
Chancellor Finch and the cloisters— William Whitelocke and the 
fountain— Chaloner Chute — Edward Hyde — Robert Hyde- 
George Bradbury and Jeffreys— William Montague— Francis 
North — Roger North — Lechmere — Somers — Lord Mohun and 
Mrs. Bracegirdle — Shower — Vernon — Richard Wallop — John 
Maynard— The dramatists Southorne, Rowe, Shadwell, and 
Congreve — Resolution against entertainments in Hall — Bram- 
ston's feast— Peckham's feast— Opening of Law Courts— Ashley 
Cooper — Twisden's accident — Judges' commission — William III. 
and Beau Nash— Cowper— Joseph Jekyll— Lovat's trial— Philip 
Yorke— Dudley Ryder— Murray— John Strange— His epitaph . 

Fa£-e :i 10 

CHAPTER XVIII 

HISTORICAL SKETCH OF THE MIDDLE TEMPLE [continued) 

Hewitt — Thomas Clarke — Arthur Onslow — Fletcher Norton — 
William de Grey — Christian VII., King of Denmark, and 
Princess Caroline — Pepper Arden — John Hedges' will — Kenyon 
— Dunning — James Mansfield — Gifford — Best — John Scott — 
William Scott and the Dowager Lady Sligo— Fielding— Sheridan 
— De Quincey — Welsh judges abolished — Mrs. Norton and Lord 
Melbourne — Trial in Westminster Hall — Diana of the Cross- 
ways — Serjeant Talfourd — Mackworth Praed — Havelock — 
Serjeant Pulling— Baron Pollock— Jervis— Erie— E. A. Glover— 
Bovill — Cockburn — Alabama award — Tichborne case — Banquet 
to Berryer and Cockburn's speech — Bethel — Middle Templars 
and the Tichborne case — Coleridge — Karslake — Bowen — 
Hawkins — Serjeant Parry — Russell of Killowen — Lord Alver- 
stone — Sir Robert Phillimore— Hannen— Sir John Day — Masters 
of the Bench . . . • • • 343 

CHAPTER XIX 
Conclusion . . . . ... 376 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 



FULL-PAGE 

Old Temple Bar in the reign of Henry VIIL . Frontispiece 

From a water-colour by T. Hosmer Shepherd. 

TO FACE PAGE 

Statues of Knights Templars and Hospitallers, Inner Temple Hall . 6 

Plan of the Temple, 1902 . . ... 19 

Old Hall, Inner Temple . . ... 36 

From a drawing in the possession of the Masters of the Bench of the Inner 
Temple. 

Inner Temple Court . . ... 

From a lithograph published by T. Malton, 1796. 

Sir Edward Coke . . ... 

From an engraving by J. Posselwhite. 

Old Hall, Library, and other Old Buildings, Inner Temple 
From a print published in 1804. 



William Murray, Earl of Mansfield 

From an engraving by H. T. Ryall, after Sir J. Reynolds. 

A Perspective View of the Temple next the Riverside 
From a drawing and engraving by J. Maurer, 1741. 

Charles Lamb 

From a sketch by Daniel Maclise. 

Bird's-eye View of the Temple as it appeared in 1671 
From an engraving published in 1770. 

Court of Wards and Liveries 

From an engraving by G. Vertue, after an unknown artist of the reign of 
Queen Elizabeth. 

Dr. Johnson's Staircase, No. i, Inner Temple Lane 
From a drawing by T. Hosmer Shepherd, 1853. 

Inner Temple Gateway . 

From an engraving by Warren, after a drawing by Schnebbelie, and pub- 
lished in 1S07. 

xvii 



49 
54 
61 

64 
68 

75 
84 
98 

104 
109 



XVlll 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 



TO FACE PAGE 

Ceiling in the Council Chanmber over the Inner Temple Gateway . 1 14 

Exchequer Court and King's Bench Walk . . . . 128 

From a painting by Hogarth in the possession of the Masters of the Bench of 
the Inner Temple. 



Heneage Finch, Earl of Nottingham 

From an engraving by S. Freeman, after Sir Peter Lely. 

King's Bench Walk .... 

Inner Temple Hall, Library, and Parliament Chambers 

Serjeants' Inn, Fleet Street 

From a print published in 1804. 

Serjeants' Inn, Chancery Lane 

From a print published in 1804. 

Inner Temple Hall, East End 

Thomas Sackville, Earl of Dorset . 

From an engraving by Vertue. 

Porch and Doorway, Temple Church 

From an engraving by S. Sparrow, after a drawing by J. C. Smith, 1807. 

Temple Effigies 

From an engraving by Basire. 

Choir, Temple Church . 

From an etching by J. Skelton, after : 

Round, Temple Church . 

From an etching by J. Lucy, after a 1 

The Pyx 

Clifford's Inn . 

From a print published in 1804. 

Clement's Inn 

From a print published in 1804. 

Lyon's Inn 

From a print published in 1804. 

New Inn 

From a print published in 1804. 

Sundial, Middle Temple Gardens 

Great Frost Fair of 1683-4 on the Thames opposite the Temple 
After a contemporary drawing by Thomas Wyck in the British Museum. 



a drawing by G. Shepherd, 1820, 



drawing by J. Coney, 1820. 



141 

158 
162 
168 

172 

186 
192 

206 

210 

214 

222 

226 
232 

238 

242 

244 

248 

254 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 



XIX 



TO FACE 

Daniel De Foe in the Pillory at Temple Bar 

From an engraving by J. C. Armytage, after a painting by E. Crowe 

Middle Temple Gatehouse and Temple Bar . 

From an engraving by Watts, after a painting by Miller. 

Middle Temple Hall, West End . 

From a drawing and engraving by J. P. Malcolm, 1800. 

The Screen, Middle Temple Hall . 

After a drawing by C. J. Richardson, published in 1S44. 

Corridor to Parliament Chambers, Middle Temple 

Oliver Goldsmith .... 

From an engraving by James Marchi, after Sir Joshua Reynolds. 

Sir Walter Raleigh .... 

From an engraving by H. Robinson, after Zucchero. 

John Ogilby's Plan of the Temple, 1677 
After a drawing by Hollar. 

Cloister Court .... 

After a print published in 1804. 

Philip Yorke, Earl of Hardwicke . 

From an engraving by W. T. Fry, after Ramsay. 

Fountain Court .... 

From an engraving by Fletcher, after a painting by Nichols, 1700 

Sir William Blackstone .... 
From an engraving by E. Serwin, after Sir Joshua Reynolds. 

Hall Court (Fountain Court) 

From a painting by Hogarth, 1734, now in the possession of the Masters of 
the Bench of the Inner Temple. 

View of Middle Temple from New Court . ... 

From a drawing by George H. Birch, k.s.a. 

Middle Temple Hall, East End . . ... 



PAGE 
266 



268 

272 

282 

292 
296 

334 

340 

348 

352 
362 

368 
37S 



XX 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 



IN THE TEXT 



PAGE 

Inner Temple Gateway . . i 
The Seal of Berengar, Grand 
Master of the Knights Hos- 
pitallers, 1365 . . . 19 

Seal of the Knights Templars, 

1204 . . . 40 

The Priests' Hall in the Inner 

Temple . . . 42 

The Inner Temple Buttery . 44 
No. 5, King's Bench Walk . 63 
Lower King's Bench Walk . 65 
No. 2, Crown Office Row . "jt^ 
Harcourt Buildings and Crown 

Office Row . . . 88 

Fig Tree Court . . . 92 

Hare Court . . . 96 

Wall Tablet formerly in Inner 

Temple Lane . . -143 

Old Gateway to Ely Place . 166 
A Corner of King's Bench Walk 174 
Old Whitehall Gate . .184 
East End of Church and Gate 

to Master's Garden . . 201 

Ancient Inscription formerly 
over the Door of the Round 
leading into the Cloisters . 207 

Temple Church and Goldsmith 
Building . . . 209 



PACE 

The Master's House . . 229 
Staple Inn Gateway . . 232 
Middle Temple Garden Gate 

under the Library Stairs . 247 
The Black Boy . . . 250 

Temple in the Reign of James I. 253 
Badge of the " Devil's Own ". 257 
The Griffin . , . 264 

Middle Temple Gateway . 268 

Middle Temple Lane (North). 271 
The Little Gate of the Middle 

Temple in New Court . 275 

Nos. I and 2, Brick Court . 277 
Goldsmith's Tomb . . 279 

Middle Temple Hall . . 287 
Temple Gardens . . 294 

Middle Temple Lane (South) . 297 
Pump Court and the Cloisters. 299 
Sundial in Pump Court . . 300 
Wigmaker'sShopinEssexCourt 301 
The Cloisters . . . 303 

Lamb Building . . . 305 

Plowden's Tomb . .310 

Passage between Essex Court 

and Brick Court . . 366 

Porch of the Church . .376 



THE 
INNER AND MIDDLE TEMPLE 



CHAPTER I 



EARLY HISTORY OF THE TEMPLE 




MANY no doubt of the daily 
throng" which with end- 
less ebb and flow surges up to 
the threshold of the ancient 
ijateways of the Temple have 
some hazy idea that within 
these portals are to be found 
the gentlemen learned in the 
law. But few probably even of 
those who enter its chambers 
on business bent, or hurry 
through its narrow lanes and dingy courts on their way 
to Whitefriars — the home of the newspaper world — or to 
the Guildhall School of Music hard by the Embankment, 
realise the true significance of this historic spot. Within 
these precincts have lived and toiled many of our greatest 
statesmen and politicians, leading novelists and drama- 
tists, historians and diarists, whose names are household 
words, to say nothing of a long, unbroken line of eminent 
lawyers, who in their turn succeeded the illustrious Order 
of the Knights Templars of mediaeval fame. Thus the 

B 



2 THE INNER AND MIDDLE TEMPLE 

very pavements within the Temple teem with remini- 
scences of some of our greatest leaders in literature, 
history, and law, and, throug-h them, with many of the 
leading" incidents in our national history. 

Within the Temple precincts are now housed the two 
Honourable Societies of the "Inner" and "Middle" 
Temple, which form part of the four Inns of Court, a 
body corresponding- to the Faculty of Advocates at Edin- 
burgh and the King's Inns at Dublin. 

These Inns of Court are survivals of a great legal 
university which flourished in mediaeval times, moulded 
after the fashion of the prevailing monastic institutions 
and guilds — bodies formed to regulate their respective 
societies, to protect the interests of their members, and 
to train and educate their apprentices. Although the 
term Apprefiticius was in the fifteenth century applied 
to the Serjeants, it must originally have denoted the 
students who were attached to some recognised teacher 
of the law, who was perhaps in the first instance a Ser- 
jeant, and later a barrister or reader who had received 
the diploma or degree, by virtue of which he had 
audience in the Courts. 

Abundant evidence exists showing that the Inns of 
Court enjoyed, in common with the Universities of Oxford 
and Cambridge, the characteristic features of that great 
mediaeval institution, the guild. 

Like the colleges at the Universities, their members 
congregated in a hospice or inn, leased to one or more 
of the senior members, forming a voluntary fraternity 
or guild. Unlike the colleges, however, they remained 
unchartered and unendowed, making their own regula- 
tions and conferring upon their members the right to 
practise in the Courts subject to the approval of the 
judges. 

This legal university comprised the Serjeants' Inns, 
from which alone the judges were selected ; the Inns of 



EARLY HISTORY OF THE TEMPLE 3 

Court, who supplied the advocates who had not attained 
to the degree of Serjeants, and the barristers who were 
not yet of sufficient standing- to plead ; and the Inns of 
Chancery, where dwelt the "clerks of Chancery" and 
attorneys, and where the embryo barrister learned the 
rudiments of his legal craft. These Inns of Chancery 
were, for the most part, affiliated to one or other of the 
Inns of Court. To the Inner Temple were attached 
Clifford's Inn, Lyon's Inn, and Clement's Inn ; to the 
Middle, Strand Inn — originally the town house of the 
Bishop of Chester, and pulled down by Protector Somerset 
to make way for Somerset House — and New Inn in Wych 
Street. Inns of Chancery have now ceased to serve their 
original purpose, and such buildings as still survive are 
now chiefly used as offices. 

Serjeants, together with their Inns, are now also 
institutions of the past, and the old university is now 
represented by the four Inns of Court, whose delegates, 
the Council of Legal Education, supply legal instruction 
to students of the Inns by lectures and classes, and upon 
whose certificates, after examination, members of the 
Inns are called to the Bar by the Benchers of their 
respective societies. 

Chambers in the Temple are to-day chiefly occupied 
by practising barristers and their pupils, although repre- 
sentatives of almost every pursuit are still to be found. 
A few people also still make it their permanent residence, 
and here and there a set of chambers is to be found 
tenanted by a firm of solicitors. Barristers, as a class, 
have long ceased to reside in the Temple. 



THE INNER AND MIDDLE TEMPLE 



THE KNIGHTS TEMPLARS 

Of the three great military orders founded in the 
twelfth century, that of the Knights Templars or Red 
Cross Knights is perhaps the most renowned. Like 
most religious societies, its origin is to be traced to 
the vow of a single individual, in this case a Burgundian 
knight named Hugh de Paganis, who had greatly dis- 
tinguished himself at the capture of Jerusalem in 1099. 
With eight companions this knight returned from Europe 
to the Holy Land under a self-imposed task of guarding 
the public roads leading to the Holy City for the 
protection of pilgrims, saintly virgins and matrons, 
grey-haired palmers, and boy priests, who were now 
thronging the mountain passes leading to the holy shrine. 
Lodged, in 11 18, by Baldwin H., King of Jerusalem, 
in return for exceptional services, within the sacred en- 
closure of the Temple on Mount Moriah, these enthusiasts 
were enrolled as regular canons by the Patriarch of 
Jerusalem, and took the vows of perpetual chastity, 
obedience, and self-denial. 

Their popular name of the Red Cross Knights was, of 
course, derived from their dress — a white mantle with 
a red cross — which distinguished them from the Hos- 
pitallers, who wore black mantles with a white cross, and 
from the Teutonic Knights, clothed in white mantles with 
a black cross. 

Quarters within the palace of Baldwin were, as has 
been said, assigned to Paganis and his knights. This 
palace was formed partly of a building erected by the 
Emperor Justinian and partly of a mosque built by 
the CaUph Om^r out of, or at any rate upon the site of, 
Solomon's Temple; hence the latter part of the title of 
the Order — '•'■ Paiiperes commilitones Christi tevipliqiie 
Solominici.'" Under the patronage of St. Bernard the 



EARLY HISTORY OF THE TEMPLE 5 

Order was, in 11 28, placed on a sound footing-. Seventy- 
two statutes, defining- the constitution of the new society, 
were drawn up at the Council of Troyes, which, confirmed 
by the Pope, Honorius II., and the Patriarch of Jerusalem, 
became the basis for the later and more elaborate ''Regie 
du Temple.'''' 

In the same year Paganis returned to France, where 
he was received with much honour by Louis VII. at Paris, 
when the site of the Temple in that city was presented to 
the Order by the King. In Normandy he visited Henry I., 
who sent him laden with treasure to Eng-land and Scotland, 
where further grants of land and money were made by his 
subjects. 

From this moment the Order spread rapidly throughout 
Europe, kings and princes, nobility and gentry vying 
with one another in heaping gifts and privileges upon 
the Order, which at this period was divided into three 
great classes of knights, priests, and serving brethren. 
The knights were all men of noble birth. None could 
become a knight templar who had not received the honour 
of knighthood — and so high stood the reputation of the 
Order, that the ranks of the Knights Templars soon be- 
came filled with the flower of European chivalry. 

At the head of the Order was the Grand Master of the 
Temple, usually resident at the Temple in Jerusalem, the 
headquarters of the Order until the capture of the Holy 
City by Saladin in 1187, when they were transferred 
to Acre. 

The organisation of the Order was perfect. The 
possessions in the East were divided into the three pro- 
vinces, Palestine, Antioch, and Tripoli. Europe was 
distributed into nine provinces, \\z. Apulia and Sicily, 
Upper and Central Italy, Portugal, Castile and Leon, 
Aragon, Germany and Hungary, Greece, France, and 
lastly England. 

The French province included Holland and the Nether- 



6 THE INNER AND MIDDLE TEMPLE 

lands, and the whole was under the immediate jurisdiction 
of the Master of the Temple at Paris. Here Henry HI. 
was entertained, with Robert de Sandford, Master of the 
Temple at London, by Louis IX. with great magnificence. 
Of such immense extent were these buildings, says 
Matthew Paris, that within their precincts could be 
housed an army. "Never," he writes, "was there at 
any bygone times so noble and so celebrated an enter- 
tainment. They feasted in the great hall of the Temple, 
where hang the shields on every side, as many as they 
can place along the four walls, according to the custom 
of the Order beyond sea." 

Although styled Master by the provincials, the real 
title of the head of a province was at first Prior, and 
later Preceptor, and as such he was always addressed 
by the Grand Master. But in imitation of the head of 
the whole Order the head of a province was called a 
Grand Master, Grand Prior, or Grand Preceptor, in order 
to distinguish him from the Priors or Preceptors subject 
to his jurisdiction. 

The earliest settlements in England were, as we have 
seen, due to Henry I., and most of these appear to 
have been confirmed by Stephen. The latter also pre- 
sented to the Templars the manors of Cressing and 
Witham in Essex ; whilst his queen, Matilda, made over 
to them the manor of Cowley, near Sandford, together 
with common of pasture in the forest of Shotover, all 
familiar names to Oxford men. 

Much property was contributed by Henry H. His gifts 
comprised three churches in Lincolnshire, Kyngeswode 
in Kent, the manor of Strode, the church of St. Clement's 
outside the city of London, a house at Bristol, a market 
at Witham, land at Bergholte, a mill near the bridge of 
Pembroke Castle, and the village of Finchingfelde, near 
Temple Cressing. 

Henry also confirmed the Templars in their possessions 







3 



EARLY HISTORY OF THE TEMPLE 7 

at Bukland, and conceded to them a market at Temple 
Bruere, where they had an establishment. Upon the 
accession of Henry II., Richard de Hastings was Master 
of the Temple, and was employed by him in the negotia- 
tions for the marriage of Prince Henry to Princess 
Margaret of France. Hastings was also the friend and 
confidant of Thomas k Becket, and upon his knees urged 
the latter to submit to the Constitutions of Clarendon. 

The date of the establishment of the Templars in 
London is unknown, but it probably took place early 
in the reign of Henry II. Their original home lay in 
Chancery Lane, between Southampton Buildings and 
Holborn Bars — a tradition sufficiently confirmed by the 
discovery in 1595 of the foundations of a round church, 
near the site of the present Southampton Buildings, by 
one Agaster Roper. 

Known subsequently as "The Old Temple," this pro- 
perty probably embraced a considerable portion of the 
present site of Lincoln's Inn. One parcel is known to 
have been granted in 1227 by Henry III. to the Bishop 
of Lincoln for his town house, and another was after- 
wards leased direct to the Society of Lincoln's Inn. 
Towards the end of the twelfth century, then, the Knights 
Templars removed from Chancery Lane to their new home 
on the banks of the Thames. Here they built a vast 
monastery, extending from the Whitefriars on the east 
to Essex Street on the west, and from Fleet Street on 
the north to the river on the south. Just opposite, on the 
northern side of the Strand, upon the site of the present 
Law Courts, lay Pickett's Field, the tilting-ground of the 
Templars. Truly may we exclaim, "Cedant arma togas!" 
In 1605 the Society of Lincoln's Inn attempted to purchase 
this field from a Mr. Harbert, of the Middle Temple. 

It will be of interest to pause for a moment to recon- 
struct the immediate neighbourhood of the Temple prior 
to its occupation by the Templars. The river was then, 



8 THE INNER AND MIDDLE TEMPLE 

as for many centuries afterwards, the great hig-hway 
between the cities of London and Westminster. Fleet 
Street did not then exist. No bridge then spanned the 
Fleet Ditch, where Ludgate Circus now lies. The road 
out of the city passed, as in Roman times, through 
Newgate, crossing the Fleet in the hollow just below 
and ascending Holborn Hill, whence it made its way 
along a ridge which stretched from Holborn Bars, by 
Chancery Lane, to St. Mary-le-Strand, just south of 
which it rapidly descended to the river, passing on its 
way the Roman bath. The neighbourhood round Fleet 
Street was then a marsh, across which possibly a 
straggling footpath led to Ludgate, a mere postern, as 
its Saxon name implies, which gave access to the landing- 
stage on the bank of the Fleet. 

Seventy years later these marshes were drained, Fleet 
Street constructed, and a bridge across the Fleet erected, 
thus giving a new main entrance to the City. The new 
highway was called the "Street of Fletebrigge," and 
retained this designation at least as late as the reign 
of Henry V. In these improvements the Templars were 
no doubt largely concerned. 

hi 1 185 the dedication of the Round Church of the 
"New Temple," as it was long called, took place in 
the presence of Henry H. and his court. The ceremony 
was performed by Heraclius, Patriarch of Jerusalem, 
who, during a truce with the Saracens, was on a visit 
to England, in company with the Grand Master, Gerard 
de Riderfort, to induce the King to fulfil his vow. This 
dedication bears witness to the importance of the new 
house. Just as the Temple at Paris was the headquarters 
of the Order in France, Holland, and the Netherlands, so 
the numerous establishments of the Templars scattered 
throughout England, Scotland, and Ireland were tributary 
to the New Temple on the banks of the Thames. 

Although the King was profuse in fair speeches and 



EARLY HISTORY OF THE TEMPLE 9 

liberal promises, Heraclius failed to induce him to lead 
his forces against the infidel, and returned in high dudgeon 
to Jerusalem, after frankly declaring his opinion of Henry, 
which was emphatic if not polite. The Patriarch himself, 
however, was not a very estimable person. His private 
life was not above suspicion, and at the bloody battle 
of Tiberias he showed the white feather by remaining 
at Jerusalem when he should have been leading the van 
with the holy cross in his charge. He perished of disease 
during the siege of Acre by the Crusaders in 1191. 

In their new home the Order rapidly increased in 
power and wealth. In the year of the dedication of the 
church, for instance, the whole village of Templecombe 
in Somerset — a name well known to travellers on the 
London and South -Western Railway — was given to the 
Order by Serlo Fitz-Odo, which became a preceptory or 
commandery, Lopen Abbas or Lopen Temple, hard by, 
was also presented about the same time by Milo de 
Franca-Quercu ; and amongst other benefactors of this 
early period occur the better-known names of Ferrers, 
Harcourt, Hastings, Lacy, Clare, Vere, Mowbray, Simon 
de Montfort, and Margaret, Countess of Warwick. 

With the exploits of Richard in the Holy Land and 
his romantic struggle with Saladin we are not here con- 
cerned ; but it is interesting to recall that upon the 
conclusion of hostilities the King, disguised in the habit 
of a Knight Templar, secretly embarked for one of the 
ports of the Adriatic, a disguise which availed naught 
against the vengeance of John of Austria, whom he had 
insulted at the siege of Acre by tearing his banner from 
its staff and flinging it into the ditch. 

In the topmost chamber of the lofty tower of Greifen- 
stein, on the banks of the Danube, may still be seen the 
place of his confinement prior to his incarceration at 
Diirnstein, higher up the river. From the roof of this 
tower, reached by a rickety outside wooden staircase, 



lo THE INNER AND MIDDLE TEMPLE 

the ma§"nificent view which proved so wearisome to 
Richard may be obtained. 

John was a liberal patron of the Templars, bestowing 
upon the Order several valuable manors in addition to 
numerous rights and privileges. His connection with 
the New Temple was very intimate. Here was stored 
the royal treasure, and here he lodged for weeks to- 
gether, dating his writs therefrom. In his negotiations 
with that powerful and haughty pontiff. Innocent III., 
the Templars took an active part. It was in the pre- 
ceptory of Temple Ewell, near Dover, that John was 
terrified into making the notorious resignation of his 
crown. 

To the New Temple in London he was glad to betake 
himself for protection against the barons, and here he 
passed the night before he signed the Charter at Runny- 
mede, upon the advice, so says Matthew Paris, of 
St. Maur, Master of the Temple. 

Although at first the Templars appear to have been 
on bad terms with Henry III., the King proved an even 
far more liberal donor than his predecessors, presenting 
to the Order numerous manors scattered throughout the 
country, together with many valuable rights of chase and 
other privileges and immunities. Henry was present, 
with his court, at the consecration of the new choir in 
1240, and designed that he and his queen, Eleanor, 
should be buried in the church, a design, however, which 
failed. 

Amongst his grants was the important manor of 
Rotheley, which became known as Temple Rotheley, and 
is now so closely associated with the name of Macaulay. 

The earliest extant charter granted by the Knights 
Templars in England is now in the possession of 
Mr. W. G. Thorpe, a member of the Middle Temple 
and the author of Middle Temple Table Talk. This was 
a grant made by Geoffrey Fitz Stephen, Master of the 



EARLY HISTORY OF THE TEMPLE ii 

Temple during^ the years 1 180-1200. The deed is dated 
November 30th, 1182, and purports to be deUvered in 
the presence of a full chapter of the Order in the Round 
Church at London, This ceremony therefore took place 
in the church of the Old Temple in Chancery Lane. 
The grant was to Henry Broc and his wife of land at 
Chesterton, in the county of Warwick, at an annual rent 
of twenty shillings and for a gift of one-third of their 
personal property to the Order, and "according to the 
custom of the house " the grantees were to compel all 
their tenants to make similar gifts. This land had been 
previously given to the Order by the lady's father. 
Photographs of this charter now hang in the library 
of each society. 

Other establishments of the Order are mentioned by 
Stow at Cambridge, Canterbury, Dover, and Warwick, 

The circular type, although usually found in the churches 
of the Order, was by no means peculiar to the Templars. 
The Holy Sepulchre at Jerusalem, which formed the 
model for this form of ecclesiastical architecture, was, 
of course, erected long prior to the foundation of the 
Order of the Knights Templars, 

From the age of the few still existing Round Churches 
in this country it will be seen that several were originally 
in no way connected with the Templars, The Round 
Church in the Inner Court of Ludlow Castle, Shropshire, 
is one of the most ancient. It is said to have been built 
by Joce de Dinan in the reign of Henry I, or Stephen, 
but whether it was the property of the Templars is 
doubtful. As to the Round Church of St. Sepulchre at 
Cambridge, built by Pain Peverill, there can be no doubt, 
since it was consecrated in iioi, prior to the foundation 
of the Order. 

The date of iioo is assigned to the Round Church of 
St. Sepulchre, Northampton, which is said to have been 
built by Simon St. Luz, who died in 1105; but the style 



12 THE INNER AND MIDDLE TEMPLE 

of pointed architecture would place it at a much later 
period, and may well have been erected by the Templars, 
to whom it is assigned by tradition. 

The Little Maplestead Round Church in Essex is known 
to have been built by the Knights Hospitallers in the 
reigns of John and Henry HI. On the other hand, 
Temple Bruere, in Lincolnshire — or Templum de la 
Bruere, to give its full title— undoubtedly belonged to 
the Templars, and possessed a Round Church modelled 
upon that of the Holy Sepulchre at Jerusalem. This has 
long disappeared, and nothing remains but the square 
tower of the preceptory and some vaults. At Dover the 
foundations of a Round Church were discovered about 
forty years ago near the Castle. 

The Templars, as we learn from Stow, acted very 
largely as bailees, or bankers, to whom were entrusted 
money, jewels, and other valuables for safe custody. In 
1232, for instance, according to Matthew Paris, Hubert 
de Burgh, Earl of Kent, was a prisoner in the Tower, and 
King Henry, hearing that he had much treasure in the 
Temple in the custody of the Templars, sent for the 
Master of the Temple, who admitted the impeachment, 
but refused to deliver the treasure except by direction 
of the owner. This was easily obtained by the King, and 
thereupon the keys of the Treasure House were delivered 
to him. Upon an inventory being taken, besides ready 
money, vessels of gold and silver and many precious 
stones of a very considerable value were found. 

Stow also relates how Edward L, in 1283, came to the 
Temple, and upon the pretence of looking at his mother's 
jewels, which were kept in the Treasure House, entered 
and broke open the coffers of persons who had deposited 
their money there, and went off with cash to the value 
of ;^i,ooo. Edward had, however, previously been a 
benefactor of the Order. From a document found amongst 
the Tower Records in 1855, it appears that when the King 



EARLY HISTORY OF THE TEMPLE 13 

was making- preparations for his last campaign in Scot- 
land, in 1306, Prince Edward of Wales was knighted by 
him at the Temple, in the presence of a large assemblage 
of nobles and gentry. This document was the petition of 
Walter le Marberer to Edward 11. to pay for the timber 
supplied to the Templars on that occasion. 

The great wealth and power of the Knights Templars 
naturally excited the avarice and jealousy of the authorities, 
and in 1312 the Order was abolished, its chief members 
being: put to death by the cruel Philip le Bel in France, 
though rather more tenderly dealt with by the weak and 
vacillating Edward II. of England. 

Having obtained the induction of a tool of his own in 
the Chair of St. Peter, Philip in 1307 struck the first blow 
at the Order. The Templars in France were ordered to be 
seized and brought before an inquisition empowered to try 
them, and, if necessary, employ torture. Such necessity 
was easily found, and out of one hundred and forty put to 
the torture, thirty-six died in the hands of their tormentors. 
Fifty-four perished at the stake under one decree alone in 
Paris, and by similar methods throughout the country the 
Order was deprived of its ablest and staunchest members. 

James de Molay, Grand Master of the Order, who 
happened to be in residence at the Temple, had been 
induced by Clement to obey his summons to visit him at 
Poitiers, under the pretence of discussing^ the affairs of 
the Holy Land. 

Received by the Pope in the Great Hall of the Palace 
of the Counts of Poitou, now the Palais de Justice, he 
was immediately afterwards arrested and sent, with his 
principal knights, a prisoner to Paris. 

Having made certain admissions, Molay and three 
others were brought out upon a scaffold at Notre Dame 
to make their confession public. Two did whatever was 
required, but Molay refused, declaring that he abandoned 
life offered on such infamous terms without regret. His 



14 THE INNER AND MIDDLE TEMPLE 

noble example was followed by the fourth Templar. Both 
were burnt to death by slow fires of charcoal the same 
evening-. According- to tradition, Molay summoned the 
Pontiff to meet him before the last tribunal within forty 
days and the King- within twelve months. This summons 
was, curiously enough, obeyed. 

Thus perished the last Grand Master of the Templars, 

In his history of the Knights Templars, Mr. Baylis, k.c, 
mentions a fourteenth-century MS. in the British Museum 
entitled "On Virtues and Vices," with illustrations painted 
on vellum. Amongst them is one representing various 
subjects relating to the punishments inflicted upon the 
Templars. In the upper part Philip is depicted on horse- 
back directing- the scourging, torturing-, and burning of 
the Templars outside the walls of Paris. In the lower 
part he is being dragged by the stirrup through the forest 
of Fontainebleau, having been attacked by a wild boar 
and thrown from his horse. 

Meanwhile Philip had written to Edward, accusing the 
Templars of abominable heresies, and urging his son-in- 
law to take steps for their suppression. At first Edward 
was not to be tempted. In a letter dated from West- 
minster, October 30th, 1307, he replied diplomatically that 
he had communicated the charges to his prelates and 
barons, and that to them they appeared utterly incredible. 
Philip accordingly was once more obliged to make use of 
the Pope, who, on November 22nd following, despatched 
a Bull from Poitiers requesting the King to arrest, on the 
same day, all the Knights Templars within the kingdom, 
as Philip had done, and to cause their persons to be 
detained in reliable custody, and their goods, movable 
and immovable, to be committed to safe keeping. Their 
lands and vineyards were to continue to be cultivated, so 
that if found innocent everything might be restored intact, 
if guilty to swell the funds for the Holy Land ! 

Edward was still unconvinced. On November 26th we 



EARLY HISTORY OF THE TEMPLE 15 

find him ordering^ his seneschal of L'Aggenois to meet 
him at Christmas at Boulog-ne and bring him information 
of the Templars in his French dominions. Although on 
December ist an ordinance is passed by the King- in 
Council for the simultaneous seizure of the Templars by 
the sheriffs throughout England, three days later Edward 
writes to the Kings of Portugal, Castile, Sicily, and 
Aragon not to credit the charges levelled against the 
Templars — charges conceived in malice and covetous- 
ness — and not to molest their persons or seize their 
possessions until they had been legally tried and con- 
demned in England. On the loth of the same month he 
also writes warmly to the Pope, declaring his inability to 
credit those detestable accusations against men who 
everywhere throughout the country bore an honoured 
name. Upon the arrival of the Papal legates, however, 
Edward, in spite of his belief in their innocence, speedily 
made his submission, and on December 15th ordered the 
arrest of the Knights Templars to take place on the 
morrow of the Epiphany, and four days later that of those 
of the Order resident in Ireland, Scotland, and Wales, 
writing a few days afterwards to the Pope that he was 
desirous of carrying out his wishes in the matter of the 
Templars. 

On August 12th, 1308, Clement sent a Bull to the 
Archbishop of Canterbury and his bishops, instructing 
them how to act in the matter of the Templars, detailing 
his own course of action and protesting that his dearest 
son in Christ, the illustrious Philip of France, so far from 
acting from avaricious motives, had not the slightest 
intention of touching or appropriating anything belonging 
to the Templars ! This was followed in October by a 
Bull to the King commanding him not to part with the 
possessions of the Templars until his emissaries should 
arrive and relieve him of his charge ! 

In March, 1309, a valuation of the lands of the 



1 6 THE INNER AND MIDDLE TEMPLE 

Templars is ordered by Edward, and in September an 
ordinance for their examination at London, Lincoln, and 
York is passed, with a request that the Pope's emissaries 
be treated with proper respect. 

Up to this point nothing- much seems to have taken 
place, but with the arrival of the Pope's ag-ents the King 
was forced into activity. Orders were given for the arrest 
of all Templars still at large, who were to be sent to 
London, Lincoln, and York, and to be imprisoned in the 
Tower and in the castles of Lincoln and York respectively 
until their examination was concluded. Similar orders 
were made respecting the Templars in Scotland and 
Ireland. 

The following year those Templars imprisoned in the 
Tower were removed to the four gates of the City, and 
transferred from the custody of John de Crumbewelle, 
Governor of the Tower, to that of the mayor and sheriffs, 
and preparations were made for the trial of the Templars 
throughout the country by a provincial council held in 
London. 

Edward's measures were evidently but half-hearted. 
Many no doubt submitted themselves to the mercies 
of the Pope ; others may have escaped and returned to 
their secular callings, since we find an order of the King 
commanding all Templars in secular dress to be arrested; 
others were left unmolested, as fresh writs issued in 1309, 
for the arrest of such vagabond Templars as might be 
found at large, go to show. In all, two hundred and 
twenty-nine only were seized and tried before the Papal 
inquisitors appointed by Clement, assisted by the civic 
authorities, who sat at St. Martin's Church, Ludgate, 
and St. Botolph's, Bishopsgate, and endeavoured, by 
their hellish means of persuasion, to extract confessions 
of their guilt from these unfortunate men. Amongst 
these was William de la More, Grand Master of the 
Order in England, who was one of the first to be arrested, 



EARLY HISTORY OF THE TEMPLE 17 

and who had been entrusted to the safe keeping- of the 
Archbishop of Canterbury. He died in captivity in the 
Tower. Beyond the case of those who died during 
imprisonment or in the torture-chamber, there is no 
evidence of any more serious punishment than incar- 
ceration in a monastery, as we may infer from the orders 
of the King for provision to be made out of the Temple 
estates for the maintenance of those Templars doing 
penance in various monasteries. 

That the majority escaped with their goods and chattels 
would also appear from the inventory prepared by the 
sheriffs of London, giving an account of expenses and 
receipts for the period from January loth, 1307, to 
November loth, 1308, and of the goods and chattels 
found in the cellar, storehouse, stable, brewery, ward- 
robes, chambers, and dormitories, and in the church and 
vestry. Beyond the personal effects of William de la 
More, of Brothers John de Stoke, Thomas de Burton, 
Richard de Herdewikes, and of the Prior, little of any 
great value is recorded. A certain amount of plate was 
found in the church and vestry ; but articles of value, 
costly weapons and body armour, such as corresponded 
to the wealth of the Order, are conspicuously absent from 
the Temple inventory. 

The truth concerning the charges against the Templars 
seems to be that the continental members of the Order, 
at any rate the French, were guilty of the more serious 
offences. In France and at Florence a large proportion 
of members confessed to the charge of indecent kissing 
{oscula inhonesta). The charge of spuitio stiper crucem at 
initiation was admitted even by the English Templars, but 
whilst some declared they had regarded the ceremony as 
a joke, all maintained that they had spat, not on the 
cross, but only near it. 

But although almost universally offences even the most 
loathsome were admitted under pressure, there is no 
c 



1 8 THE INNER AND MIDDLE TEMPLE 

evidence to show that outside France there was any 
reality in them. At the same time it is now generally 
accepted that the Knights Templars were members of a 
secret society combining, according to M. Loiseleur, the 
heretical teachings of the Bogomilians and the Luciferians. 
In dealing with the masonic construction of the church 
this question will be further discussed. 

That some such practices were rife appears from the 
rivalry between Hugh de Peraud, visitor of France, and 
James de Molay, for the office of Grand Master. The 
latter had declared his intention of extirpating certain 
practices in the Order of which the former was the most 
strenuous initiator. This theory accounts to some extent 
for the confession of Molay and his subsequent denial, and 
for the general acquittal of the Templars at nearly all the 
inquisitions outside France. 

Fifty years later the Templars were amply avenged 
when, on the plain beneath Poitiers, the little English 
army under the Black Prince shattered the flower of 
French chivalry. 

And later still, in that same hall where Clement received 
Molay, stood Jeanne d'Arc, prior to her appointment as 
leader of the French forces. On the dais was seated an 
imposing array of doctors learned in law and theology, 
the Chancellors of the Universities of Paris and Poitiers, 
priests and Dominican friars. On a form below sat the 
peasant maid who by her simple faith and ready mother- 
wit put all these astute hair-splitters and holy casuists to 
utter confusion. The verdict then won was the signal for 
the downfall of the English power in France. 

The architecture of the great hall is very similar to that 
of Westminster Hall and is little inferior in size. 




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PLAN OF THE TE:\!rLE, 1902 



EARLY HISTORY OF THE TEMPLE 19 



THE KNIGHTS HOSPITALLERS 

By the decree of the Pope, confirmed by the Council 
of Vienne, near Lyons, in 13 12, the Order of the 
Knights Templars was abolished and all their possessions 
were granted to their rivals, the Knights Hospitallers, or 
Order of St. John of Jerusalem. This grant was rather 
nominal than real, for not more than a twentieth of their 
vast wealth reached the hands of the Hospitallers, the 
remainder being appropriated by Clement, Philip and 
Edward, and their respective adherents. In England 





The Seal of Bekengak, Grand Master oi- the Knights Hosi'itai.lers, 1365 

the claims of the Hospitallers, or Johnnites, as they were 
popularly called, were at first entirely ignored, Edward 
expressly forbidding them to intermeddle with the pos- 
sessions of the Templars. That portion of the Temple 
which lay outside the City boundaries was granted by the 
King to Walter de Stapleton, Bishop of Exeter, and 
thenceforth was known indifferently as Stapleton Inn, 
Exeter Inn, or the Outer Temple. From the successors 
of the Bishop of Exeter it passed successively into the 
hands of Lord Paget, the Duke of Norfolk, and the Earl 
of Leicester, from whose son. Sir Robert Dudley, it was 



20 THE INNER AND MIDDLE TEMPLE 

purchased by Robert Devereux, Earl of Essex. Then 
arose Essex House, which with its gardens covered the 
site now occupied by Essex Court, Devereux Court, Essex 
Street, and the buildings now abutting on the Strand. 

The other portion was at first administered for the 
Crown by James le Botiller and William de Basing. 
Upon the suppression of the Order in 131 2 it was granted 
by the King to Aymer de Valence, Earl of Pembroke, 
but was, under an arrangement, surrendered by him on 
October 3rd, 1315, to Thomas, Earl of Lancaster, the 
King's cousin and most powerful subject. Upon the 
attainder and execution of Thomas in 1322 the Temple 
reverted once more to the Crown, and was at once 
granted afresh to the Earl of Pembroke. The latter was 
shortly afterwards assassinated in Paris, and dying with- 
out heirs, it again reverted to the Crown. Thereupon 
Edward seized the opportunity to bestow it upon his new 
favourite, Hugh le Despencer, in spite of the statute of 
1324, by which all the English possessions of the Templars 
passed to the Hospitallers. 

Upon the attainder and execution of the new favourite, 
which coincided with the accession of the young Edward 
HI., the claim of the Hospitallers was again ignored, the 
property remaining in the hands of the King's escheator, 
the Mayor of London, until 1333, when a lease for ten 
years was granted to "his beloved clerk," William de 
Langford, by Edward, at an annual rental of ;^24. 

Four years later the Hospitallers complained to the 
King of this possession of consecrated property by a 
layman. An inquisition was held, and a division made 
between the consecrated and non-consecrated land of the 
Temple. Herein we find the origin of the division of the 
Temple into two societies. Langford was left in possession 
of the unconsecrated portion at a reduced rent. About 
the year 1340, in consideration of a contribution of ;^ioo 
for the wars, Edward made an absolute grant of the 



EARLY HISTORY OF THE TEMPLE 21 

whole Temple, as distinct from the Outer Temple, to the 
Hospitallers. 

An interesting relic from the occupation of the Temple 
by the Knights Hospitallers came to light in 1830, when 
excavating near the tombs of Knights Templars in the 
Round. This was a leaden seal, with a hole through it for 
the silken cord with which it was formerly attached to a 
deed. It proved to be the seal of Berengar, who succeeded 
De Pim as Grand Master of the Knights of St. John of 
Jerusalem in 1365, and who died in 1373. On the obverse 
the prior is represented on his knees before the patriarchal 
cross, on either side of which are the letters alpha and 
omega, and under the former a star. On the reverse 
appears the Holy Sepulchre at Jerusalem, with Christ in 
his tomb ; at his head an elevated cross ; and above a 
tabernacle or chapel, from the roof of which are suspended 
two censers. 

This seal may be taken as a type of the seals of the 
Knights Hospitallers which prevailed throughout their 
existence. That of Raymond du Pay, who became Grand 
Master in 11 13, found at Norwich Castle, is similar in 
general design, as is also that of Roger de Molins, 
attached to the Harleian Charter in the British Museum, 
which was executed in the very year of the foundation of 
the Round, and was witnessed by the patriarch Heraclius 
and by Henry H. at Dover on April 4th. 

THE THREE TEMPLES 

At the time of the inquisition in 1337 there were two 
halls in the Temple, one upon the site of the present 
Inner Temple Hall, and the other lying between Pump 
Court and Elm Court, with the west end abutting on 
Middle Temple Lane. The former, standing on the 
consecrated portion, known as the priests' lands, appears 
to have been that occupied by the "apprentices of the law 



22 THE INNER AND MIDDLE TEMPLE 

that came from Thavie's Inn." Langford's lease of the 
non-consecrated portion having- expired in 1343, the whole 
property was leased by the Hospitallers about the year 
1346 to "certain lawyers" in two separate parcels, with 
two reservations of two rentals at p^io apiece. We 
have here a natural explanation of the names of the two 
societies. The Temple had already been divided into an 
Outer and an Inner district, i.e. districts outside and 
inside the City boundaries. Next we have the division of 
the Inner Temple into consecrated and non-consecrated. 
The consecrated retaining- the name of Inner, the natural 
name for the non-consecrated, lying between the Outer 
and the Inner, would be the Middle. 

Beyond these names there is nothing to suggest three 
societies, and in fact what evidence there is negatives 
the suggestion of a third society. At a parliament held 
by the Antients of the Inner Temple on May 6th, 15 17, 
we find that Thomas Denny was admitted to a chamber 
"in the Outer Temple," an admission which shows con- 
clusively that at this period, at any rate, this was not 
a separate society. And Sir George Buc, writing about 
the year 1612, said, "And because the Utter Temple 
neither is nor was ever any coUedge or society of students, 
and therefore not to be considered here." 



THE LAWYERS 

If we may trust an ancient MS., formerly the property 
of Lord Somers and afterwards of Nicholls, the well- 
known antiquary, the lawyers first obtained a footing 
in the Temple in the year 1320 as lessees of the powerful 
Earl of Lancaster. Possession is said to be nine-tenths 
of the law, and once in, the lawyers appear to have stuck 
to the possession, whatever happened to the ownership. 
By virtue of the statute of 1324 the Knights Hospitallers, 
according to Dugdale, who, however, only relied upon 



EARLY HISTORY OF THE TEMPLE 23 

tradition, leased the property to "divers apprentices of 
the law that came from Thavie's Inn in Holborn " at an 
annual rental of ^10. 

In this instance tradition is probably correct, since four 
years later there is other evidence that at this date the 
lawyers were firmly established in their new home. The 
Temple was, as we have seen, in the hands of the Mayor 
as escheator for the King-, and he took it upon himself 
to close the Watergate at the Temple stairs. Complaint 
was therefore made by the lawyers to Edward III., who 
at once admonished the Mayor in the following letter: — 

"Since we have been given to understand that there 
ought to be a free passage through the court of the New 
Temple at London to the river Thames for our justices, 
clerks, and others, who may wish to pass by water to 
Westminster to transact their business, and that you keep 
the gate of the Temple shut by day and so prevent those 
same justices and clerks of ours and other persons from 
passing through the midst of the said court to the water- 
side, whereby as well our own affairs as those of our 
people in general are oftentimes greatly delayed, we 
command you that you keep the gates of the said Temple 
open by day, so that our justices and clerks and other 
persons who wish to go by water to Westminster may be 
able so to do by the way to which they have hitherto been 
accustomed. 

*' Witness ourself at Kenilworth, the 2nd day of Novem- 
ber and third year of our reign." 

Whatever the exact date, it seems tolerably certain 
that the lawyers who then entered into the occupation 
of the Temple came from Thavie's Inn, which was sub- 
sequently granted on lease to the Benchers of Lincoln's 
Inn for the use of students, and ultimately became an Inn 
of Chancery affiliated to that society. 

The will of John Thaive or Thavie, an armourer who 
died in 1348, throws some light upon the point. From 



24 THE INNER AND MIDDLE TEMPLE 

this will it appears that this hospice formed part of his 
property, and in leaving it to his wife Alice for life, and 
after her decease for the maintenance of a chaplain, who 
was to pray for their souls, the armourer describes his 
Inn as " illiid hospiciiun in quo apprenticii ad legem hahi- 
tare solehant,^'' sugg^esting' that at the date of his will the 
Inn no longer served its former purpose. 

The connection between the lawyers to whom the non- 
consecrated portion of the Temple had been leased and 
the lawyers of St. George's Inn has been clearly traced 
by Mr. Pitt Lewis, K.c. , a Bencher of the Middle Temple, 
which completely dispels the rival traditions of both 
societies relating to their origin. Since Coke's day the 
tradition has been maintained by members of the Inner 
Temple that their Inn was the parent society, and that 
the severance took place at the commencement of the 
reign of Henry VI., when, owing to the great increase 
in members and the smallness of the ancient Hall of 
the Templars, a certain number migrated and set up 
a separate establishment. On the other hand, members 
of the Middle Temple have contended that the Middle 
is to be regarded as the original society, relying upon 
the discovery, in 1735, of the foundations of the old Hall 
between Pump Court and Elm Court. 

Master Worsley, who supported this view, submitted 
that this Hall must be older than that of the Inner Temple, 
of which neither the style nor strength was so antique, 
and that the separating party naturally erected their "Hall 
in such place where some remains of the mansion house of 
the Templars still stood as being the most convenient place, 
or probably to save expense, or for some other reason." 

But, as we have seen, as early as 1337 at least there 
were already two Halls, one undoubtedly the original Hall 
of the Templars, in the occupation of the lawyers from 
Thavie's Inn, and the other occupied by Langford. 

Moreover, other evidence is not wanting. In 1442 



EARLY HISTORY OF THE TEMPLE 25 

Lincoln's Inn is described as " the ancient ally and friend 
of the Middle Temple," and in the Paston Letters s^xcrA 
references to the " Inner Temple " occur as early as 1440. 
That the Society of the Inner Temple made its new home 
in the Temple some quarter of a century prior to the 
Society of the Middle seems tolerably clear, but there is 
no evidence to show that one is superior to the other. 
Upon the evidence available, it appears to be practically 
certain that both societies are of equal antiquity as 
descendants from the old Fraternities or Guilds of Thavie's 
and St. George's Inns respectively. 

From 1346 up to the Reformation the Temple was held 
of the Knights Hospitallers by the two societies, when in 
1540 this Order was in turn dissolved and despoiled by 
Henry VIII. Thenceforth until the year 1608 the lawyers 
held direct of the Crown at a rental of ^10 for each 
society, when they found that James I., having arrived 
at the conclusion that they were only tenants at will, was 
negotiating a sale of the freehold. The two societies 
immediately took steps to avert this danger, and upon 
presenting James with "a stately cup of pure gold, 
weighing 200 ozs. and of the value of 1,000 marks or 
thereabouts," filled with gold pieces, obtained the new 
charter granting them the Temple together with the 
church in fee farm for ever at the old rental. The 
reversion was eventually purchased from Charles II. 

The cup, which was curiously engraven with "a church 
or Temple beautified with turrets and pinnacles " in relief 
on one side and an altar on the other, was " esteemed by 
James for one of his royalist and most richest jewell." Its 
cost was ;^666 13^-. 4^'. , or in our money about jCz^S'^^- 

In 1625 it was pawned by Charles I. when in difficulties 
with his first Parliament, together with other plate and 
jewels, with Parret van Schoenhoven, an Amsterdam 
merchant. It was apparently never returned, and all 
traces of it have disappeared. 



26 THE INNER AND MIDDLE TEMPLE 

Seated midway between the cities of London and West- 
minster, the lawyers became an important element in the 
mediaeval life of both. With the removal of the Inns of 
Court and Chancery from the precincts of the City to the 
western suburb on the banks of the Thames, near Fleet 
Street, Chancery Lane, and Gray's Inn Fields, these 
colleg-es became the fashionable seminaries for the educa- 
tion of young- noblemen and gentlemen. At this period 
the undergraduates of Oxford and Cambridge were for 
the most part the sons of yeomen, tenant-farmers, and 
artisans, and moreover mere boys. And the education at 
these Inns of Court and Chancery was not merely legal, 
nor even confined to the classics and other erudite learn- 
ing, but was a general training for men of position, as 
we are told by Sir John Fortescue, who wrote about the 
year 1463 of these institutions: "There they learn to 
sing, to exercise themselves in all kinds of harmonye. 
There also they practise dannsing and other noblemen's 
pastimes, as they used to do which are brought up in 
the king's house." 

And he adds that noblemen placed their children in 
these Inns, not to have them learned in the law nor to 
live by its practice, but to become accomplished and useful 
citizens. 

And throughout the Renaissance, no less than during 
feudal times, the Inns of Court men continued to be rulers 
of society. Having no less intimate relations with the 
royal circle than with the commercial magnates of the 
City, and comprising a large proportion of men eminent 
for rank, wealth, learning, and wit, they laid down the 
law equally upon questions of politics as upon those of 
dress, taste, and art. And although in more modern times 
the gentlemen of the long robe have ceased to occupy 
such exclusive prominence, they still exercise a powerful 
influence in the manifold phases of the political and social 
life of the nation. 



EARLY HISTORY OF THE TEMPLE 27 

THE TEMPLE CRESTS 

The origin of the two crests or arms of the two societies 
is uncertain, and has given rise to much discussion. The 
original banner of the Knights Templars was made of two 
pieces of woollen stuff, one black, the other white, with 
the red cross of the Order in the midst. This banner was 
called "Le Beauseant," or, as it was originally spelt, "Bau- 
c^ant," which signified in old French "a piebald horse." 
Possibly this suggested the seal of two men on one horse, 
typical of the vow of poverty and humiliation sworn by 
Pauperes commilitones Christi—the poor fellow-soldiers of 
Christ — which it has been suggested at the hands of 
some mediaeval craftsman developed mio Pegasus, the horse 
with two wings, the present badge of the Inner Temple. 

This suggestion is ingenious and highly probable, al- 
though on the other hand there is evidence that the 
Pegasus was adopted by the Inn in the year 1563, after 
the Christmas Revels held in honour of Lord Robert 
Dudley, at which twenty-four gentlemen of the Inn were 
dubbed Knights of the Order of Pegasus. Lord Robert 
as Palaphilos, Prince of Wisdom, was the chief performer, 
and Roger Manwood, afterwards Lord Chief Baron, and 
Christopher Hatton, afterwards Lord Chancellor, were 
his principal supporters. Gerald Legh is stated by the 
Hon. Daines Barrington to have suggested the device of 
a "Pegasus luna on a field argent." But the device has 
always been a Pegasus argent on a field azure. That 
Gerald Legh did suggest the device is not improbable, 
since in his Accedence of Armoric, published in the same 
year, he gives a detailed account of these revels, together 
with a woodcut of the arms. 

That the device of two men on one horse was an emblem 
of poverty and humility Mr. Baylis agrees with Stow and 
Vincent in thinking ridiculous. According to these writers 
it was symbolic of love and charity, and was intended to 



28 THE INNER AND MIDDLE TEMPLE 

represent the rescue of a wounded fellow-Christian by a 
Templar on the field of battle. This idea might indeed be 
carried still further. Might it not represent a Templar 
assisting a travel-worn or wounded pilgrim on his way 
to the Holy City, signifying the object for which the society 
was founded ? 

A second seal of the Templars was the Agmis Dei with 
the flag, but this was only adopted at a much later date, 
the first instance of its use being in 1241, nearly a century 
and a half after the institution of the Order. As was only 
natural, this was appropriately adopted by the members 
of the Middle Temple as the badge of their society. 

The Holy Lamb with nimbus and banner appears upon 
the seal to a deed dated 1273, whereby Guido de Forester, 
magister militiae Tenipli in Anglia et fratres ejusdeni 
miliiiae, leased out certain lands at Pampes worth, Cam- 
bridgeshire, the rent to be paid domino Templi in Dux- 
worth, in the same county, where a manor called the 
Temple Manor still exists. The legend of the seal consists 
of the cross and the words Sigillum Templi. 

Many references to these heraldic signs of the " Lamb" 
and the "Winged Horse" are to be found in literature, 
especially in the works of Lamb and Thackeray. The 
following lines chalked on the Temple gate by a wit of 
the day, though often quoted, will bear repetition : — 

" As by the Templars' hold you go, 
The horse and lamb display'd 
In emblematic figures show 
The merits of their trade. 

"^ The clients may infer from thence 
How just is their profession ; 
The lamb sets forth their innocence, 
The horse their expedition. 

" Oh, happy Britons ! happy Isle ! 
Let foreign nations say, 
Where you get justice without guile 
And law without delay." 



EARLY HISTORY OF THE TEMPLE 29 

A reply was speedily forthcoming from the pen of a 

rival wit, whose retort courteous was found pinned 

alongside the above verses : — 

" Deluded men, these holds forego, 
Nor trust such cunning elves ; 
These artful emblems tend to show 
Their clien/s — not themselves. 

" 'Tis all a trick ; these are all shams 
By which they mean to trick you ; 
But have a care, {o\- yoiire the lambs 
And they the evolves that eat you. 

" Nor let the thoughts of ' no delay ' 
To these their courts misguide you ; 
'Tis you're the showy horse and they 
The jockeys that will ride you." 

THE CONFLICT OF THE COMMON LAW WITH THE 
CIVIL LAW AND THE CANON LAW 

Obscure as the origin of the Common Law undoubtedly 
is, its main characteristics are clearly traceable to that 
rude mass of Teutonic customs and institutions under 
which our Anglo-Saxon forbears lived and had their 
being. With the Norman Conquest a fresh impetus was 
given to the development of the law of the land. The 
old Anglo-Saxon laws and customs, so far from being 
abolished, were in the main only clothed with new forms. 
Although in an earlier stage than on the Continent, the 
feudal system was already in existence, and its natural 
development was forced by the more advanced French 
system to a larger and perhaps more intricate growth 
than it would otherwise have attained. One immediate 
result of this change was the necessity for the aid of 
skilled lawyers. Hitherto, and for some centuries yet, 
all suitors appeared in person, but with the introduction 
of Norman procedure and the French language, the 
assistance of a trained lawyer, if only to stand by and 
advise, became an absolute necessity for a Saxon litigant. 



30 THE INNER AND MIDDLE TEMPLE 

Professional lawyers and pleaders undoubtedly existed in 
pre-Conquest times, but whether the latter did more than 
stand by to prompt the litig-ant in person is unknown. 
For two centuries the English Common Law remained in 
a somewhat chaotic condition. Whilst the Crown was 
occupied in developing- the feudal system in its own 
interests, the people were strugg-ling with perpetual 
alternations of fortune in maintaining- their ancient laws 
and customs. 

To the citizens of London in particular at this early 
period belongs the credit of preserving undefiled the 
spirit of these ancient usages. From Henry L they 
wrung the charter by which their old local courts or 
guilds developed into recognised courts of law, such as 
the Court of Hustings, the Hanse Court, and a Criminal 
Court at the Old Bailey (an ancient gate of the City), of 
which the Mayor's Court and the Central Criminal Courts 
are the lineal descendants. 

With the discovery of the Pandects at the sack of 
Amalfi in 1135, a revival of the study of the Civil Law 
of Rome throughout the Continent took place. It is un- 
necessary to discuss here whether the revival was in 
consequence of this discovery, or whether it was due to 
ambitious designs on the part of the Church to increase 
its power by the control of the Civil Law, of which its 
members were the sole exponents. Whatever the cause, 
the revival of the Civil Law spread to this country, and 
its reception was also marked by the speedy introduction 
of the Canon Law, of which the Civil Law would have 
been the modest handmaid if the Popes of Rome could 
have had their way. 

In those early days all lawyers were ecclesiastics ; but 
although all were Civilians, all were not Canonists as 
well. In fact, in the struggle which next ensued between 
the Common Law and the Canon Law, the Civilians 
began to be looked upon with suspicion by the Church. 



EARLY HISTORY OF THE TEMPLE 31 

Civilian judg-es and clerks had two sides. When they 
sat in the King's Courts they were lawyers first and 
ecclesiastics last, if at all. 

"It is," write Pollock and Maitland, "by 'popish 
clerg-ymen ' that our English Common Law is converted 
from a rude mass of customs into an articulate system ; 
and when the 'popish clergymen,' yielding at length to 
the Pope's command, no longer sit as the principal justices 
of the King's Court, the golden age of the Common Law- 
is over." In this struggle Thomas k Becket was a notable 
exception. Having climbed into power as a King's man, 
he turned round and became the champion of the Church 
against Henry II. With Becket's fall and death the 
attempt to retain the Roman curia as the supreme tribunal 
was for the time ended, and the province of ecclesiastical 
jurisdiction determined. 

The struggle was, however, shortly afterwards renewed, 
as we have seen, between Innocent III. and John, much 
to the latter's discomfiture ; but the situation was saved at 
Runnymede, when the King, acting, as is said, upon the 
advice of the Master of the Temple, attached his seal to 
the Great Charter, and much against his will laid the 
foundations of English liberty, and equally unwittingly 
struck the second blow in the conflict between the rival 
systems of the Common Law and the Canon Law of 
Rome. 

A churchman and, above all, a tool of the papal see, 
Henry III., with his Italian priests, proved no match for 
his opponents in the struggles which ngw recommenced. 
Although it was the barons who, by refusing to place 
upon the statute book legitimation per subscqucns matri- 
tnonium, when in the Parliament of 1236 they cried 
"Nolumus leges Angliae mutari," it was William Raleigh, 
a canon of St. Paul's, who was the champion of the 
Common Law. The Civilian judges were still true to 
their trust as exponents of the law of the land, and 



j^ THE INNER AND MIDDLE TEMPLE 



'i'y. 



with the first wave of the Reformation all that was best 
in the Church had thrown itself on the side of the 
reformers. 

Before, however, the teaching- of the Civil Law by the 
Church had begun, schools or guilds of law had arisen 
in the City, rendered necessary first by the institution 
of the City Courts, and later by the permanent establish- 
ment of the King's Court at Westminster. In the time 
of Stephen and Henry there were three such schools, and 
these were naturally connected with the Church. These 
were St. Paul's, with a hostel in Paternoster Row ; 
St. Sepulchre's, with St. George's Inn; and St. Andrew's, 
with Thavie's Inn adjoining. In these hostels or schools 
of law we have the origin of the Inns of Court. Although 
thus closely associated with the Church, in consequence 
of the decree of 1218 forbidding the clergy to practise 
in the secular courts the advocates gradually ceased to 
be clerics, and their schools were protected from com- 
petition by proclamations, both by Henry II. and 
Henry III., forbidding the teaching of the Civil Law 
in the City of London. 

With the accession of Edward I. — the English Justinian, 
as he is styled by Sir Matthew Hale — ^the real consolida- 
tion of the Common Law commenced, and for two 
centuries continued to develop upon the lines already 
established. 

During- this period its principles became more firmly 
embedded as the law of the land, and in the struggle 
between the Crown and the Baronag-e these were 
developed and extended at the expense of both. In 
the chaos which accompanied the final stage of the 
quarrel the law was naturally one of the first institu- 
tions to suff'er. But we must not forget the immense 
influence of the Corpus Juris upon its growth and develop- 
ment, from the discovery of the Pandects at Amalfi, 
when nearly all our judges and lawyers became Civilians, 



EARLY HISTORY OF THE TEMPLE 33 

deeply saturated with Roman law. Nevertheless the 
spirit remained English if the form was sometimes 
Roman. 

Times of stress, however, once more threatened the 
Common Law. With the Renaissance it was even in 
danger of utter extinction. Throughout the Continent 
codification was in the air. In France it was said that 
every time one changed one's post-horses one changed 
one's law, so numerous were the local customs under 
which the people lived. Upon the revival of classical 
learning, it was only natural that men should turn once 
more to the Corpus Juris, that masterpiece of ordered 
law which especially appealed to men distracted by innu- 
merable local customs, royal ordinances, and ecclesiastical 
regulations. So to the age of the Renaissance and to 
the age of the Reformation must be added the age of 
the Reception, i.e. the reception of Roman law. 

In England the Reception had been preached by 
Reginald de la Pole, cousin to Henry VIII., and his 
preaching was singularly opportune. It is true that 
Henry prohibited the academic study of the Canon Law, 
but he encouraged that of the Civil Law by the foundation 
of professorships at Oxford and Cambridge. The dis- 
continuance of the Year Books — that great stream of 
law reports which had been flowing ever since the days 
of Edward I. — in the year 1535 was an ominous sign of 
the times. The Church was in subjection, the Baronage 
was decimated and powerless, and Parliament existed 
merely to register the royal edicts of the English Lex 
Regia, which gave the force of statutes to the King's 
proclamations. The King's Council, the Star Chamber, 
and the Court of Requests might easily have Romanised 
English procedure. 

As late as Edward VI. 's reign the procedure in the 
Court of Requests, presided over by Dr. Thomas Smith, 
a Civilian, is described as being "altogether according 
1) 



34 THE INNER AND MIDDLE TEMPLE 

to the process of summary causes in civil law," and other 
courts with a similar procedure were also in existence. 

To a monarch who wished to be supreme in Church as 
well as State, there was pleasanter reading- in the Byzan- 
tine Code than in our venerable Year Books. In the days 
of the great divorce case and the subsequent quarrel with 
the Papacy, Henry found the jurists from the Universities 
of Oxford and Cambridge, Padua and Bourges, indispens- 
able. By these jurists the barbarism of English law was 
denounced in strong terms, and to some extent deservedly 
so. It is therefore no matter for surprise that amongst 
the many contemplated reforms Henry should have formed 
the project of reforming the Inns of Court and instituting 
a great college of law, or legal university, such as had 
existed under the first three Edwards. Henry also con- 
ceived the project of an ecclesiastical code, of which a 
draft is extant, as well as in all probability that of a civil 
code. Throughout the Continent and in Scotland the 
Reception gained the day. Why did it fail to do so in 
England ? 

One difference, says Professor Maitland in his Rede 
Lecture for 1901, marked off England from the rest of the 
world. Mediaeval England had schools of national law. 
These schools were distinctively English, and they appear 
to have existed nowhere else. Of these guilds or frater- 
nities of lawyers we know next to nothing, but they 
evolved a scheme of legal education, embracing not only 
an academic scheme of the mediceval sort, oral and dis- 
putatious, but also a practical scheme by which their duly 
qualified members alone had audience in the Courts. 

It was their successors, the Inns of Court, that in the 
opinion of Professor Maitland, whose authority in such 
matters is unrivalled, saved English law in the age of the 
Renaissance. That the case was desperate is clear. The 
results of Henry's inquiries addressed to Thomas Denton, 
Nicholas Bacon, and Robert Cary, relating to the reform 



EARLY HISTORY OF THE TEMPLE 35 

of the Inns of Court and a colleg-e of law, do not appear 
to have been such as the King- anticipated. In neither is 
there any mention of the Civil Law, and the commissioners 
propose nothings more drastic than such reforms in legal 
education as might be expected from English barristers of 
their hig-h standing. As the project was dropped, and as 
the Inns of Court were then not worth plundering, we 
may infer that Henry was not over-pleased with the report. 
Had the commissioners been more complaisant, Henry 
might have represented in his own person the three R's — 
Renaissance, Reformation, and Reception. As it was, 
the Common Law had a narrow escape. Shortly after 
Henry's death a wail went up in the form of a "Petition 
of divers students of the common law to the Lord Pro- 
tector and the Privy Council." The Common Law, they 
cried, was being- set aside by writs and decrees of 
Chancery g-rounded upon the Civil Law, and by the judg- 
ments of Civilian judges ignorant of the law of the land, 
to such an extent that few men were left in the profession. 
Ten years later, as we learn from Stow, there was so 
little business in Westminster Hall that both the judges 
and a handful of Serjeants had nothing- to do but look 
about them, and in criminal causes of any political im- 
portance we find the Court composed of two or three 
doctors of Civil Law, a course that threatened to become 
permanent. Once more, however, the peril was averted, 
and in the hands of Plowden, Coke, Selden, Prynne, and 
Hampden those cherished and hard-won principles of 
English liberty and freedom, constitutional law and order, 
were rescued and developed, and finally wrung by the iron 
hand of a Cromwell from a would-be despot. 

Upon the foundation of that rock, so nearly submerged, 
a hundred legislatures, more or less, are now building^. 
But there is still work to be done by the Inns of Court as 
important as that when they saved the English Common 
Law schools. As the foundation and centre of a great 



36 THE INNER AND MIDDLE TEMPLE 

legal university, with a past that is unique in the history 
of the world, and with institutions and traditions older 
even than those of Parliament, the Inns of Court, by the 
unification of English law, might weld together those in- 
numerable sections of our British Commonwealth by a 
bond stronger even than blood. 

Law schools make tough law, and One Law makes One 
People. 

THE CONSTITUTION OF AN INN OF COURT 

The Inns of Court were modelled upon the old trade 
guilds, to which they owe their origin. The governing 
body consisted of the Benchers, whose numbers were un- 
limited, and who co-opted such members of the Utter Bar 
of twelve years' standing as they desired to add to their 
ranks. This procedure is still in operation. All the 
property of the Inn is vested in the Masters of the Bench. 
Their orders are binding upon all members of the society. 
By them members are called to the Bar, and subject to an 
appeal to the judges, they may refuse to call any member. 
Offenders against their orders may be punished by fine, 
by forfeiture of their chambers, by expulsion from the 
Hall, by putting out of commons, or by final expulsion 
from the precincts of the house. These punishments, 
curiously enough, closely resemble those inflicted upon 
the Knights Templars. For a slight offence an ancient 
Templar was withdrawn from the companionship of his 
fellows, and not allowed to eat with them at the same 
table. For graver affairs they were deprived of their 
lodgings and compelled to sleep outside in the open ; and 
for the most heinous crimes they were imprisoned in the 
penitential cell in the church — frequently with fatal results 
— or expelled from the Order. This power of imprison- 
ment was exercised by the Masters of the Bench of the 
Inner Temple as late as 1558, when eight gentlemen of 
the house "were committed to the Fleete for wilfull 



EARLY HISTORY OF THE TEMPLE 37 

demenoure and disobedience to the Bench and were 
worthyly expulsed the fellowshyppe of the house, since 
which tyme upon their humble suite and submission unto 
the said Benchers of the said house, it is agreed that they 
shall be readmitted into the fellowshyppe and into commons 
again, without paying any fine." 

This similarity in regulations is probably a mere co- 
incidence. Such punishments were general in societies 
such as those of the Templars and the old voluntary 
fraternities or guilds, both semi-ecclesiastic in origin. 

At the head of the Masters of the Bench stood the 
Treasurer, who presided at the parliaments, and to whom 
certain definite duties in relation to the governance of the 
Inn and the maintenance of its buildings were assigned. 
He was elected yearly from the ranks of the Benchers. 

To assist the Treasurer in the internal arrangement of 
the society, there were at the Inner Temple originally 
three Governors, but since 1566 such ofiicers have ceased 
to be elected. 

Next to the Governors in importance came the Lector 
or Reader, selected from the Utter Barristers, and entitled 
after the expiration of his term of office to be elected a 
Master of the Bench. During his term he had precedence 
over other Benchers, and enjoyed certain privileges in the 
admission of members. His duties were onerous. He 
was required to give a specified number of readings or 
lectures to the students both of the Inn and of the Inns of 
Chancery affiliated to the society, and to act as president 
at the moots, as the debates were and are still called, at 
which fictitious cases were put and argued by the students. 
He was also required to provide entertainments for all the 
members of the Inn, known as the Reader's Feasts, and 
which were of a very costly nature. Refusal to take up 
this office subjected the off"ender to a heavy fine and the 
liability to be disabled from ever becoming a Master of 
the Bench. In 1547 this fine was fixed at ^40, and in 

420743 



38 THE INNER AND MIDDLE TEMPLE 

1624 we find John Selden being- fined ^20 and ordered to 
be for ever disabled from being called to the Bench or 
being a Reader of the Inner Temple. 

Amongst the privileges of the Reader was that of 
hanging his coat-of-arms upon the walls of the Hall, a 
survival from Templar days, when the "poor chivalry of 
Christ " used to hang up their shields upon entering the 
Hall, The earliest of these is that of Thomas Lyttelton, 
a Reader in the reign of Henry VI., and whose cele- 
brated Essay on Tenures had formed the subject of his 
lectures. 

Double Readers were those who were called upon to 
read twice, and were consequently regarded with immense 
respect. 

The remaining officials were the four Auditors, two 
selected from the Bench and two from the Bar, who audited 
the Treasurer's accounts, and a Pensioner, who collected 
the pensions or payments due from the members to the 
society. 

These officers met for the ordinary business of the Inn 
at what was and is still known as the Bench Table. For 
matters of greater importance the Benchers met in parlia- 
ment, whence arose the name of the Parliament Chamber. 

The bar of the old Courts was not the imaginary one 
of to-day, but a substantial barrier of iron or wood, 
separating the judges and their officials from the litigants 
and their attorneys and advocates, as well as witnesses 
and the prisoners. Thus the pleader stood at the bar 
or ouster the bar, and gained the name of Apprenticius 
ad Barros, or Utter Barrister, and later of Barrister-at- 
Law. In court the order of precedence was Serjeants- 
at-Law, Benchers, and Utter Barristers, and so continued 
up to the seventeenth century. In later times the Utter 
Barrister was called within the Bar and became known as 
an Inner Barrister, and later still as "a silk," from the 
material of his gown, the junior barrister taking the cast- 



EARLY HISTORY OF THE TEMPLE 39 

off name of Utter or Outer Barrister, or the more 
colloquial term of "stuff gownsman." 

Next to the junior barristers, who, although called, 
were not, at least in early days, entitled to plead in 
court, ranked the clerks -commoners, corresponding to 
the students of to-day. They were originally called 
apprenticii ad legon — another instance of the connection 
of the Inns of Court with the guilds — a term which was 
afterwards applied to a body of lawyers ranking next to 
the Serjeants. These were called the great apprentices 
of the law, or apprenticii iwbiliorcs^ and in the fifteenth 
century the title was used to designate even Serjeants 
and judges. 

The above order was strictly observed in Hall. At the 
upper table on the dais sat the Benchers and such noble- 
men, judges, and Serjeants as formerly belonged to the 
society and still retained their chambers. The second, 
third, and fourth tables were occupied respectively by the 
utter and junior barristers and the students, whilst behind 
the screen and under the minstrel gallery was the 
Yeomen's Table, for the use of the Benchers' clerks. 




CHAPTER II 

BUILDINGS IN THE INNER TEMPLE 
AND SOME OF THEIR INMATES 

THE HALL 

WHATEVER the truth con- 
cerningf the origin and 
separation of the two societies, 
that of the Inner undoubtedly 
succeeded to the ancient Hall or 
refectory of the Knights Tem- 
plars. The date of this ancient 
building' is only a matter of con- 

Seal of the Km.ht. Templars, Jecture. Some authorities place 
1204. the date of its erection as early 

as the eighth century, but how- 
ever this may be, it was probably standing when the 
Round of the church was built by the Templars in 1185, 
the small Gothic windows on the north dating from the 
restoration or partial rebuilding which took place in the 
reign of Edward III. 

In 1606 and 1629, owing to the then ruinous condition 
of the Hall, extensive repairs and restorations took place, 
and two centuries later its condition was still more 
dangerous, as we learn from a report made in 1816 by the 
Treasurer, Joseph Jekyll, But beyond patching up the 
old rubble walls with brickwork, and renewing the rotten 
timbers, nothing of a permanent kind was done. 



40 



BUILDINGS IN THE INNER TEMPLE 41 

After the restoration in 18 16 we learn from the Gentle- 
man's Magazine that at the western end were three 
canopied niches with statues of three early English 
lawgivers, viz. Alfred, Edward I., and Edward III., all 
executed by Rossi, the last two copied from their effigies 
in Westminster Abbey. 

Thus the old Hall of the Knights Templars stood until 
its final demolition in 1866, being utterly inadequate for 
the use of the constantly increasing members of the 
house. 

This was the old Hall where the Knights Templars 
partook of humble fare, sitting two by two, and where on 
feast days they entertained with sumptuous hospitality 
kings and princes, Papal legates, and foreign ambassadors. 
Here too the guilty expiated their offences by offering 
their naked backs to be scourged with leathern thongs, 
and this was the scene of those alleged idolatrous rites 
when the Novices of the Order were compelled to spit on 
the cross, kiss the idol with the black figure and shining 
eyes, and worship the golden head, which were kept 
secreted in the Treasury adjoining ! 

Here the members of the Inner Temple dined in their 
turn, eating their meat off wooden platters, and quaffing 
their strong ale out of ashen mugs, a practice continued 
till about 1560, when green-glazed earthenware pots 
and jugs replaced the latter. Several specimens of these 
have been recovered from the old wells. Wooden cups 
are of very ancient date. In the inventory of the Knights 
Templars "cups of maple wood with silver feet" are 
mentioned. These may be compared with the wooden 
peg-tankards of Saxon times. Here they sat at table in 
the order already indicated, almost exactly as they do 
to-da}-. Instead of a well-swept fioor, they had a carpet 
of fresh rushes, and in place of the electric light, candles 
and flaring torches; whilst a wood or charcoal fire radiated 
its heat and smoke impartially from the centre of the Hall, 



42 THE INNER AND MIDDLE TEMPLE 

a certain proportion of the latter escaping- through the 
smoke-louvre above, as was then customary. 

Round this fire, after dinner, the Master of the Revels 
solemnly conducted the guest of the evening. One of 
the most splendid entertainments in the old Hall during 
the reign ot Queen Victoria was the magnificent banquet 
given in the month of July, 1843, to the late King of 
Hanover, the Queen's uncle. 




The Priests' Hall in the Inner Temple. 

The south entrance to the old Hall was on the same 
site as to-day, and is the one referred to by Charles 
Lamb in 182 1, when in his memorable essay on the 
Old Benchers he mourns over the changes which had 
taken place. " They have lately Gothicised the entrance 
to the Inner Temple Hall and the library front, to assimi- 
late them, I suppose, to the body of the Hall, which they 
do not at all resemble." "What," he asks, "has become 
of the winged horse that stood over the former? a stately 



BUILDINGS IN THE INNER TEMPLE 43 

arms ! " The " library front " is probably the building- at 
the east end of the Hall, pulled down in 1819, and rebuilt 
after the Pointed style. 

Just outside the north door of the old Hall stood the 
chapel of St. Thomas, through which access was g-ained 
to the cloisters, and thence still under cover to the church, 
to which entrance was gained either through St. Anne's 
Chapel, or through a door on the south of the Round no 
longer in existence, or throug^h the present main entrance. 
One section of these cloisters with groined arches and 
corbels still exists in a chamber at the west end of the 
present Hall. This chamber measures about 23 feet by 15, 
presenting the appearance, writes Mr. Inderwick, K.c, of 
a small refectory, and which the learned counsel thinks 
was probably the refectory of the priests, being described 
indifferently in our records as the " Hall of the Master of 
the Temple," or the "Hall of the Priests." The walls 
are of rubble and Kentish rag, similar to those of the old 
Hall. The ceiling is supported by groined arches in stone, 
and an open fireplace of later date stands at the northern 
end. Of the two stone recesses, one resembles a piscina, 
whilst the other was probably used as a cupboard. A 
window corresponding with that in the buttery above is 
now blocked up. The floor is on the same level as the 
ancient floor of the church and chapel of St. Anne. 

Almost immediately above this chamber is the Buttery, 
" Promptuarium," with which it communicated by a 
flight of stone steps. Some of these have recently been 
removed and the staircase blocked up to make room for 
a huge safe for the Inn's plate. The ceiling of the 
buttery is also supported by stone groined arches. Ad- 
joining the buttery on either side were other chambers, 
known by members of the Inn as "the Butteries." 
Upon scraping ofl" the old plaster on the outside of 
the north wall in 1756, several very ancient doorways 
and windows were discovered. .\bove these chambers 



44 THE INNER AND MIDDLE TEMPLE 

again appear to have been others, called "the Hall 
Chambers" or "the chambers over the buttery"; whilst 
those on the ground floor, on a level with the Priests' 
Hall, were known as "the chambers under the Hall 
stairs," where we find the brilliant Sir William Webb 
Follett in 1825. To the west of these building's, as in 
the days of the Knights Templars, stood the brewery, 




The Inner Temple Buttery. 

where the beer for the society was brewed until its re- 
moval to make way for the new Hall and kitchens. 

The new buildings were erected, from the designs ot 
Sir Sydney Smirke, partly upon the old foundations, and 
preserved as far as possible the old lines of construction, 
leaving intact the Priests' Hall and buttery. They were 
opened on May 14th, 1870, by Princess Louise on behalf 
of Queen Victoria, as may be seen from the Latin in- 
scription over the south entrance to the Hall. 

Upon this occasion the Princess, who was accompanied 



BUILDINGS IN THE INNER TEMPLE 45 

by H.R. H. Prince Christian, was entertained at a dcjetiner 
in the new Hall, which was gfaily decorated with flowers. 
The Lord Chancellor, Lord Hatherley, appeared in his 
black velvet court suit ; the Chief Justice of the Common 
Pleas, Sir William Bovill, in his scarlet robe ; and the 
Chancellor of the Exchequer, Robert Lowe, in his blue 
and g'old official dress ; whilst the Queen's Counsel wore 
their silk gowns, with long--bottomed wig's and knee- 
breeches ; the barristers their wigs, bands, and gowns ; 
and the students their gowns. After the Hall had been 
declared opened by the Princess, Prince Christian was 
enrolled a Bencher of the House. 

The following week an inaugural banquet was given in 
the Hall, at which His Majesty, then Prince of Wales, 
was present, with Prince Christian, hi addition to the 
Lord Chancellor, the company included Mr. W. E. 
Gladstone (Prime Minister), the Earl of Derby, Earl 
Grey, Lord John Manners, Lord Cairns, Dr. Thomson 
(Archbishop of York), the Duke of Richmond, Earl 
Granville, Lord Westbury, and Dr. Wilberforce (Bishop of 
Winchester), together with most of the judges, Serjeants, 
and eminent counsel. The presence of Mr. Gladstone is 
alone sufficient to render this occasion memorable in the 
history of our society. Gladstone and Disraeli were both 
members of Lincoln's Inn, and by a singular coincidence 
both their names were withdrawn from the register on 
the same day in the month of November, 1831. 

The exterior of the Hall does not prepare one for the 
noble proportions of this fine chamber. Mr. Loftie's 
assertion that Smirke, in common with many modern 
architects, has contrived to make his buildings appear 
smaller than they really are, seems to be well founded. 
It is ninety-four feet in length, forty-one in width, and 
forty to the springing of the hammer-beams. 

At the east end, on the south, is a fine bay-window, 
decorated with heraldic glass. On the panelling which 



46 THE INNER AND MIDDLE TEMPLE 

runs round the Hall is a succession of coats-of-arms 
of Treasurers and Readers from the time of Sir John 
Skylling-, who was Reader in 1506. Thus is perpetuated 
the custom of the Knights Templars, who used to hang- 
their shields upon the walls when at meals. The two 
doors concealed in the panelUng at the east end lead into 
the Parliament Chambers — a handsome set of rooms, the 
walls of which are covered with portraits and engravings 
of legal luminaries. 

The two doors now at the north and south entrances 
to the Hall are probably survivals of " a great carved 
screen," which Dugdale mentions as being erected in the 
Hall in 1574. They are very handsomely carved and both 
of the same pattern. The one at the southern entrance 
bears the date 1575; the other is undated, and in the 
upper portion is not quite finished by the carver. What 
became of this screen is unknown. The present one is 
quite modern. 

The four bronze statues, two on either side of the 
central door in the screen, were designed by H. H. 
Armstead, r.a., in 1875. The two inner figures represent 
Knights Templars, and the two outer Knights Hospitallers, 
The Templar on the left of the central door is intended to 
represent William Mareschal, the powerful minister of 
Henry HL They originally stood in the gallery, being 
intended by the sculptor to be viewed at a distance, but 
so fine is the sculpture that a closer inspection is no 
detriment. At page 6 are shown the two figures on 
the right. The figure on the left in the illustration is a 
Knight Templar, and that on the right a Knight Hos- 
pitaller. Beneath the large painting of Pegasus hangs 
a perfect galaxy of portraits by Sir Godfrey Kneller : 
William HI. and his queen Mary, Anne, George H. and 
Caroline. With these are hung the portraits of the 
Lord Chancellor and the Speaker of the House of Com- 
mons. On the north wall may be seen portraits of 



BUILDINGS IN THE INNER TEMPLE 47 

Gabriel Neve, Esq., Sir Randolph Carew, Thomas 
Sherlock, for fifty years Master of the Temple, Sir 
Crosswell Levinz by Richardson, and John Herbert, Esq. 
Above the minstrel gallery hang Sir Edward Coke, the 
famous Chief Justice, and Sir Thomas Lyttelton. The 
south wall contains some even more important personages 
— Christopher Benson, Master of the Temple, Sir Simon 
Harcourt, the silver-tongued Chancellor, and Sir Matthew 
Hale, the famous Chief Justice from Lincoln's Inn. 

Dr. Benson was the port wine drinker whom Sydney 
Smith liked better " in the bottle than in the wood." 

THE LIBRARY AND PARLIAMENT CHAMBERS 

At the east end of the old Hall formerly stood a little 
building with the eastern window of the Hall looking over 
its roof. According to Mr. Inderwick, K.c. , this building 
was of one story only, but in the map of 1671 two tiers 
of windows are given. This was the old library, which 
was blown up with gunpowder in the fire of 1678 in order 
to save the Hall, and which was rebuilt, together with the 
end of the Hall, in the year 1680. Towards the cost of its 
rebuilding and wainscoting Sir George Jeffreys, then His 
Majesty's Serjeant-at-Law, contributed ^£40. 

Long before the reign of Henry VL, writes Mr. 
Inderwick, k.c, the Inn had a library, a possession which 
placed the House far in advance of the other societies. 
Reference to this building, which was at the western end 
of the Hall and called the upper library, where the 
gentlemen of the House dined in term time, when the 
accommodation of the Hall did not suflice, and where 
during vacation they played hazard, appears in the 
records for 1505, for in that year we find that " Knyghtly 
and Baker are assigned a chamber newly made under the 
library." 

A reference to the library at the east end of the Hall 
occurs in the records for 1530, when the Treasurer, 



48 THE INNER AND MIDDLE TEMPLE 

Thomas Audley, Speaker of the House of Commons, 
and afterwards Lord Chancellor, was allowed to make 
"a door out of his chamber into the library of this 
House," provided it were not "to the nuisance of the 
members of the same House." 

Immediately behind the old library and attached to the 
Treasurer's house on the east stood an ancient tower 
built of chalk, rubble, and rag stone, surmounted by a 
wooden cupola with a bell. In this turret were sets of 
chambers. After undergoing similar repairs to those 
of the old Hall, it was pulled down in 1866 and replaced, 
though much further east, by the stone clock-tower which 
gives access to the new library. 

East of the Treasurer's house, which included the 
Parliament Chambers and offices, stood Babington's 
Rents, erected about the year 1530, and in the intervening 
space between these chambers and the library a few years 
later chambers were built, known as Packington's Rents. 
In 1 5 18 we find John Packington " admitted to a chamber 
at the door of the Hall." 

Sir John Packington enjoyed the favour of Henry VIII. 
to such an extent that by an extraordinary grant he was 
allowed to wear his hat in the presence of the King and 
in that of his successors. He was Recorder of London, 
a Welsh judge, and Chancellor of the Exchequer. During 
his Treasurership the wall along the river was built and 
the ceiling of the Hall constructed, and for his "many 
and sundre payns " in these matters he was thanked by 
the Benchers in 1533. 

North of Babington's Rents and parallel with the 
Cloisters, thus completing the old ecclesiastical quad- 
rangle, were Bradshaw's Rents, probably erected about 
the year 1544, when Henry Bradshaw was elected 
Treasurer of the House. 

All these buildings or their successors — for some had 
suffered in the various fires — were swept away to make 




V ^— - -'■^^^'tl- 



INNER TEMl'LE COURT 



BUILDIXG. IN THE INNER TEMPLE 49 

room for the new 1 irliament Chambers and the library. 
The ground and first floors are given up to the Parliament 
Chambers, offices, and lecture-rooms, whilst the whole of 
<-he second floor is devoted to the library. 

In c(-'^ sequence of the bequest by William Petyt, a 
former Treasurer of the House and Keeper of the Records 
at the Tower, of his MSS. and books, together with the 
sum of ^150 towards a new library, a second room was 
in 1709 built or fitted up as a library, in which Petyt's 
MSS. remained under lock and key for many generations. 

These MSS., consisting of original letters from kings 
and queens of this country, diplomatists, foreign agents, 
and other distinguished personages, are still of great value, 
notwithstanding the recent labours of the Record Oflice. 
Together with our own records, they now reside in the 
private room of the Treasurer, who is specially respon- 
sible for their safe custody. 

Apart from a law library of some 26,000 volumes, the 
new library contains a collection of historical and literary 
works amounting to 36,000 volumes, especially rich in 
county histories and books on architecture and the fine 
arts. 

The building itself is of very considerable dimensions, 
consisting of numerous divisions leading one into the 
other. For accommodation and comfort, and in the 
absolute freedom of access to the bookcases, this library 
is probably unequalled in London. The north wing, upon 
the site of No. 2, Tanfield Court, was opened in 1S82. 

Over the fireplace in the old library was a fine piece 
of woodcarving attributed to Grinling Gibbons, bearing 
the inscription, '*T. Thoma Walker Arm. a.d. 1705," 
which was the result of a payment of ^20 5^. made by 
Sylvester Petyt, Principal of Barnard's Inn and brother 
of William, as executor of the latter's will. It has now 
found a resting-place in the anteroom to the Parliament 
Chamber, where a portrait of William Petyt also hangs. 



so THE INNER AND MIDDLE TEMPLE 

Formerly the chief butler combined the duties of 
librarian with those of his more humble office ; but after 
the Petyt bequest a Mr. Samuel Carter, upon finding two 
sureties for ^i,ooo, was appointed "library keeper" at a 
salary of ^£20 a year. The present librarian, Mr. J. E. L. 
Pickering, is a well-known expert in bibliography. 

Amongst the objects of interest in the library is a case 
containing a collection of serjeants' rings, given by the 
following Serjeants upon their creation, viz. William Fry 
Channell, 1840; Lord Campbell, 1850; Charles Crompton, 
1852 ; William Ballantine, 1856 ; John Richard Quain, 
1871 ; and William Field, 1875. Each ring bears its 
appropriate motto. 

The Benchers' committee-room contains a fairly good 

collection of paintings and engravings relating to the 

Temple. The most interesting of these are undoubtedly 

two paintings said to have been executed by Hogarth in 

1734, one of King's Bench Walk and the other of the 

Middle Temple Hall. Another painting which may be 

attributed to J. Maurer, and from which the engraving 

shown at page 68 was probably taken, was presented to 

the society by Mr. Lawson Walton, k.c, a Bencher of 

the Inn, and equally well known in the Courts and at 

Westminster. 

CLOISTER COURT 

The quadrangle formed by the church and the Master's 
house (originally said to be in a line with the church, on 
the site of the present garden) on the north, by Bradshaw's 
Rents on the east, by the Hall, Treasurer's house, library, 
Packington's and Babington's Rents on the south, was 
completed by the erection of chambers over the cloisters. 
When these were erected is unknown, but they were 
standing in 1526, for in that year we find a Mr. Grenfeld 
"admitted to a chamber over the cloisters." Only a 
portion, however, of these cloisters— that nearest the Hall 
— was built over. 



BUILDINGS IN THE INNER TEMPLE 51 

The space thus enclosed was originally the burial-ground 
of the Knights Templars, as is evidenced by the discovery 
of some traces of their interments. It remained as an 
open space for recreation until the erection of Caesar's 
Buildings in 1596, v^'hich were built at the chief charge of 
Sir Julius Caesar, then Master of the Rolls and Treasurer 
of the House, a son of Caesar Adelmare, the Italian 
physician to Queen Elizabeth. This site is now occupied 
by Lamb Building, the property of the Middle Temple. 
These buildings are described in our records for 1596 as 
''adjoining the upper end of the Hall," and three years 
later as " the new buildings adjoining to the north part of 
the Hall." It is difficult to assign any other site to them 
than that now occupied by Lamb Building, but I am free 
to confess that this site is open to doubt. 

Abutting on the north-east corner of the cloisters for- 
merly stood a row of small chambers and shops. These 
were built right up to the south wall of the church and 
reached nearly as far as the east end of the church, form- 
ing another quadrangle — imperiiim in itnperio — known as 
Cloister Court. These buildings, which had been a con- 
stant source of danger to the church, were swept away 
early in the last century. This quadrangle then became 
known as Lamb Court, and later as Lamb Building, from 
the lamb painted over the door of the only building left. 

TANFIELD COURT 

With the erection of Caesar's Buildings a second court 
was formed in the larger quadrangle, and Bradshaw's 
Rents becoming the residence of Sir Lawrence Tanfield, 
a great personage of the House, received the name of 
Tanfield Court. Henry Bradshaw, Chief Baron of the 
Exchequer in 1552, was one of the witnesses to the seal 
affixed by Edward VI. to the instrument settling the 
crown on Lady Jane Grey. His immediate successors at 
the Exchequer were David Brooke, Treasurer of the 



52 THE INNER AND MIDDLE TEMPLE 

House, Roger Manwood, one of the commissioners on the 
trial of Mary of Scotland, also a member of the House ; 
and Lawrence Tanfield, one of the judgfes at the trial of 
the Countess of Somerset for the mvirder of Sir Thomas 
Overbury of the Middle Temple. For eigfhteen years Tan- 
field presided over the Court of Exchequer, with much credit 
for his independence, integrity, and learning. By some he 
is accused of being harsh, unjust, and even corrupt. 

In Tanfield Court a cruel murder took place in 1733. 
For a few pounds a charwoman named Sarah Malcolm 
strangled an old lady, Mrs. Duncumbe, and cut the throat 
of her little maid, Anne Price. Malcolm was executed at 
the Fleet Street end of Mitre Court, after sitting for her 
portrait to Hogarth, with all the vanity engendered by 
her evil notoriety. 

OLD BUILDINGS IN THE OUTER GARDEN 

The Outer Garden, upon which from time to time 
chambers were erected, lay north of the church, and 
extended up to the houses in Fleet Street as far as Middle 
Temple Lane. We find in the records for the year 1567 
an " order that the nuisance made by Woodye by building 
his house in the Outer Garden shall be abated and plucked 
down, or as much thereof as is upon Temple ground," 
and in a marginal note is the injunction, "The jettinge 
over of the building of Wooddy in the corner of the Utter 
Gardein to be pulled downe." And in 1565 occurs another 
order "for the plucking down of a study newly erected 
by the ' jakes ' in the Outer Garden." Immediately north 
of the church, on the site of the present Goldsmith 
Building, a tower is marked on the map of 167 1. This 
Mr. Inderwick, K.c, thinks is the Bastelle referred to in 
the records for 1510, when "a chamber where Edward 
Halys lay in ' le Bastelle ' in the Outer Temple " was 
assigned to Pett and Audele. This would make the 
Outer Garden identical with the Outer Temple, which, 



BUILDINGS IN THE INNER TEMPLE 53 

as we know, was certainly west of Middle Temple Lane. 
Other building-s probably in this neig-hbourhood were " le 
Barentyne " and " le Olyvaunte," names derived from the 
elephant, a well-known sign, and " le Talbott," meaning 
a white bloodhound, the crest of the Talbot family. On 
or about the site of Farrar's Building was, in 1338, the 
Bishop of Ely's town residence. Of all these, not even 
the names survive. With the exception, then, of the 
church and some portions of the Hall, all the mediaeval 
buildings have disappeared. They have either been de- 
stroyed in the numerous fires which, with too great 
frequency, have occurred in the Temple, or have been 
pulled down to make room for more commodious dwellings. 
And indeed until some time subsequent to the building of 
the river wall in 1528, which was not far from the 
southernmost point of the present Paper Buildings, there 
does not appear to have been a single erection below the 
line drawn from Whitefriars Gate to Essex House. As to 
the dwellings above this line, the accommodation they 
appear to have afforded to lawyers and students alike can 
have been but scanty. 

MITRE COURT BUILDINGS 

Retracing our steps to the top of King's Bench Walk, 
or Exchequer Court, as the upper end of the walks was 
formerly called, we now find Mitre Court Buildings, the 
site of the old Fuller's Rents. 

The first portion of these buildings was commenced in 
1562, and in 1576 Francis Beaumont, afterwards a Justice 
of the Common Pleas, and father of Francis Beaumont 
the great dramatist, was admitted to a chamber in these 
buildings, and here probably his more famous son, who 
was admitted to the society on November 3rd, 1600, 
passed much of his time, if he did not actually share his 
father's room. The second part of Fuller's Rents, to the 
west, was not built till some years later, the first 



54 THE INNER AND MIDDLE TEMPLE 

tenant — a Mr. Raymond — being admitted to a chamber 
here in 1588. 

The Middle Temple, about the commencement of 
Elizabeth's reign, attempted to deprive the Inner Temple 
of Lyon's Inn, one of the Inns of Chancery attached to 
the latter society. The Benchers of the Inner accordingly 
sought the good offices of Robert Dudley, afterwards 
Earl of Leicester, the then reigning favourite of Elizabeth. 
Whether the successful issue was due to the Earl's influence 
or not, the Benchers of the Inner Temple showed their 
gratitude by admitting Dudley, gratis, to a chamber at 
the south end of Fuller's Rents in 1576. In the next year 
they granted him a licence to extend the building, upon 
the site now occupied by No. i. King's Bench Walk, for 
the purpose of an office, for he then held the post of 
Master of the Alienation Office. 

Fuller's Rents had been built by John Fuller, Treasurer 
of our House in 1 562. Master Fuller had previously in 1 5 50, 
upon his refusal to take up the office of Reader, been ex- 
pelled the House, and fined 100 marks. Upon his humble 
submission and promise two years later to read at the next 
vacation, he was pardoned and readmitted by the Bench. 

Two other famous occupiers of Fuller's Rents were Sir 
Thomas Bromley and Sir Edward Coke. The former was 
a member of a distinguished legal family, and successively 
Recorder of London 1566, Solicitor- General 1569, and 
Keeper of the Great Seal and Lord Chancellor 1579. It 
was Sir Thomas who presided at Throckmorton's trial for 
his alleged participation in Wyatt's rebellion, and who 
joined with other judges in refusing to allow a witness 
produced by the prisoner to give evidence, and denying 
him the inspection of a statute upon which he relied. 
Bromley's summing up was so deficient, either from want 
of memory or good will, that Throckmorton "craved 
indiff'erency, and did help the judge's old memory with 
his own recital." 






t. 




SIK liUWAKD COKE 



BUILDINGS IN THE INNER TEMPLE 55 

At the back of Fuller's Rents was a gate leading into 
Mitre Court and Ram Alley, and thence into The Street, 
as Fleet Street was called at that time. 

So great was the nuisance caused by this entrance, 
owing to the disreputable houses in Ram Alley and Mitre 
Court, that in 1595 the gate was ordered by the Bench to 
be stopped up. This order was, however, apparently 
never really carried out, since we find in 1600 and 1602 
regulations issued for its supervision, regulations which 
have been in force ever since. It was upon the complaint 
of Rowland Hinde and William Atkynson, in the former 
year, "that one Gibbes, dwelling in Ram Alley, late 
removed the posts which stood in the Temple ground, 
whereupon a door was wont to hang, and also built a 
staircase upon the ground of the Temple . . . and made 
two doors out of his kitchen opening into the Temple 
ground, and made forms for such as resort to his house 
upon the Temple ground to sit tippling and drinking, to 
the great annoy of the students and gentlemen of this 
House," that the Benchers ordered the nuisance to be 
abated, "or else Ram Alley door to be shut up." A house 
eventually effectually blocked up Ram Alley, which, 
subsequent to the year 1799, itself disappeared. But 
the passage which led from Mitre Court past Ram Alley 
into Serjeants' Inn still exists, and proceedings are now 
pending as to the right of the Benchers to close this gate. 
And although the gate between King's Bench Walk and 
Mitre Court is still religiously locked at eight o'clock, we 
may take it the tippling and drinking ceased, or no longer 
continued to shock the good breeding of the students and 
gentlemen of our House. 

Sir Edward Coke was, perhaps, as Judge Willis says, 
the most illustrious member of our House. His "acute 
intellect, powerful memory, untiring industry, the variety 
of the ofiices he held, his courage in asserting the in- 
dependence of the judges, his bold and daring efforts 



56 THE INNER AND MIDDLE TEMPLE 

to establish the rights and privileges of the citizen have 
made him the greatest figure this House presents." 

A student of Clifford's Inn, he was entered of the Inner 
Temple in 1572, and in due course became Treasurer 
of the House. In 1588, at the request of the Earl of 
Warwick, he was admitted into the chambers in Fuller's 
Rents granted to the Earl of Leicester, which he re- 
tained until his death in 1634. The site of these chambers 
is now covered by Nos. i and 2, Mitre Court Buildings. 
Upon his elevation to the Bench, by the rules of the 
society, Sir Edward ceased to be one of the Fellows ; 
but he, nevertheless, retained these rooms, from which he 
gained Serjeants' Inn by a private passage, still existing, 
past a small garden, and through a door now seldom, if 
ever, closed — the subject of the above-mentioned dispute. 

It was by way of the Speakership in the House of 
Commons that Coke reached the Bench, like so many 
of his predecessors. His foulness of tongue is in singular 
contrast with his greatness of character, and not even 
the dignity of his high office appears to have restrained 
this unhappy blemish. In taking leave of the House he 
apologised for the unbecoming expressions into which his 
natural proclivities had too often led him. 

Too independent for James I., he was, in 1616, re- 
moved from his office of Lord Chief Justice of the King's 
Bench, but appointed Treasurer of England in commission. 
In December, 1620, he was committed to the Tower, and 
his chambers searched and his papers taken away, "and 
yet nothing could be found in any of them to bring him 
into question." On August 8th, 1622, he was released, 
and subsequently sat in Parliament for Coventry, Norfolk, 
and Bucks. In July, 1634, a warrant was again issued 
to search his chambers in Fuller's Rents, and on the 
3rd September following this true patriot and opponent 
of the royal prerogative, harassed to the last, died at 
Stoke Pogis, in the eighty-eighth year of his age. 



BUILDINGS IN THE INNER TEMPLE 57 

His portrait by Van Somer, presented by his daughter, 
Mrs. Sadler, many years after, hangs in the Hall, and 
many of his books may be found on the shelves in our 
library. 

The present building, which replaced the old chambers 
where Charles Lamb and his sister once lodged, was 
erected in 1830. In removing the foundations of these 
old chambers, a number of Irish labourers employed 
upon the work struck upon a hoard of guineas, which 
they proceeded to distribute amongst themselves, but 
falling out over the division of the spoil, they were 
discovered by Mr. Gurney, clerk of the works, and 
were all taken into custody and searched, when guineas 
of all the sovereigns from Charles II. to George II., to the 
number of sixty-seven, were found upon their persons. 

It is of these chambers, in the attic story at No. 16, 
that Lamb writes to Manning. "Bring your glass," he 
cries exultantly, "and I will show you the Surrey Hills." 
His bed faced the river, so that without much wrying his 
neck he could see the white sails glide by the bottom of 
King's Bench Walk as he lay abed. "The best room," 
he adds, " has an excellent tip-toe prospect, casement 
windows with small panes — to look more like a cottage." 

KING'S BENCH WALK 

In the earliest known map of London, dated 1543, and 
made by Antonio van den Wyngaerde, houses along the 
site of King's Bench Walk are shown, with the garden 
and trees down to the waterside, and a pathway running 
along the river bank from Bridewell on the east to the 
Savoy on the west, which was left untouched by the wall 
built in the reign of Henry VIII. 

The earliest erections on the east side of the Walk of 
which we have mention are Black Buildings, erected in 
the same year as Fuller's Rents by Benhani, Bourchier, 
and Williams near the Alienation Oflice. These were 



58 THE INNER AND MIDDLE TEMPLE 

pulled down in 1663 for the enlarg-ement of the walks. 
In the accounts for 1646 there is an item of ^18 i05'. lod. 
for their repair, and ag'ain in 1659 a sum of ^37 us. for 
a similar purpose. 

In 1577 licence was granted to a Mr. Harrison "to 
build next Friars' Wall." This was the wall dividing 
Whitefriars from the Temple, and these buildings are de- 
scribed as "standing up or near the White Friars' Wall 
there," and were the last buildings in the row. They 
probably occupied the site of No. 11 or 12, King's Bench 
Walk. The old garden of the Alienation Office still lies 
between No, 3, King's Bench Walk, and Serjeants' Inn. 

After the destruction of these buildings in the Great 
Fire the Bench resumed possession of the garden, which 
became known indifferently as the "Benchers' garden," 
the " privy garden," or the "little garden." It was laid 
out after the Dutch style with walks and grass plats, and 
a fountain, with a lion's head and a copper scallop shell to 
catch the water, was erected in the centre. Orange trees 
in tubs were placed along the walks, and tulip beds of 
fantastic designs cut out in the grass plats. 

In later years, as fresh buildings arose around it, this 
little pleasaunce was entirely neglected, and is now given 
up to sheds for the machinery used for supplying the Hall 
and library with electric light, and to a lecture-room 
where students may imbibe the first principles of law, 
where the Hardwicke Society holds its debates, and where 
the Templar entitled to a vote in respect of his chambers 
may exercise the franchise in parliamentary and municipal 
elections. 

To the annual dinner held by the Hardwicke Society — 
a function attended by many of the judges and leading 
counsel — it is customary to invite as the guest of the 
evening some distinguished lawyer. 

The last occasion, on June 5th, 1901, was exceptionally 
interesting from the presence of that brilliant advocate of 



BUILDINGS IN THE INNER TEMPLE 59 

the French Bar, Maitre Labori, as the guest of the evening". 
The enthusiastic reception accorded was not merely a note 
of admiration for a distinguished advocate, nor was it 
merely an expression of good feeling on the part of the 
English Bar towards the Bar of France, but it signified 
the outspoken assertion of the paramount right of an 
advocate to discharge without fear or favour his duty to 
his client. '* It had been said," exclaimed M. Labori, 
"that without independence there was no Bar. It was 
no less true to add that without a Bar there was no 
independence for the nation." 

In the Great Fire of 1666 the whole of the buildings in 
the King's Bench Walk appear to have been destroyed. 
Scarcely had these, or some of them, been rebuilt, when, 
in October, 1677, a second fire broke out, and the new 
buildings were likewise burned down. That this fire did 
not prove so disastrous to the Inn as the Great Fire was 
due in a large measure to the precautions taken by the 
Masters of the Bench, who had availed themselves of the 
latest methods, such as they were, of extinguishing fires. 
In the previous October a committee had sat "to consider 
all necessary means to prevent any accidental fire in this 
society, and to view the engine^ and to report what further 
number of buckets will be necessary to be added to the 
former, now hung up in the Hall." 

Exactly how much suff'ered in the second fire is not 
known, but a very considerable proportion must have 
been destroyed. The King's Bench Ollice at the bottom 
of the walks, we know, was burnt down. No. 4 was re- 
built in 1678, as the stone tablet over the door testifies ; 
and No. 5, a particularly fine example of a Jacobean town 
mansion, in 1684. F'rom the petitions of persons burnt 
out, it is clear that houses on either side of the White- 
friars Gate suffered. Hampson's Buildings, "the southern- 
most staircase in the King's Bench Buildings," and Robin- 
son's Buildings adjoining, were both destroyed. In the 



6o THE INNER AND MIDDLE TEMPLE 

latter a fire broke out in the long vacation of 1683, in 
which Sir Thomas Robinson lost his life. 

At No. I was to be found in 1819 James Scarlett, after- 
wards Baron Abinger of Abinger in Surrey. In early 
years a Whig, Scarlett became Attorney - General in 
Canning's ministry of 1827. He continued to hold this 
office under the Duke of WeUington, but on this minister's 
downfall he resigned, and threw in his lot with the Tories. 
In the debate on the second reading of the Reform Bill in 
1831, he declared that if the Bill passed it would "begin 
by destroying the House, and end in destroying the other 
branches of the constitution" — a gloomy foreboding 
happily still unfulfilled. 

When at the Bar, Scarlett was himself defendant in an 
action for slandering the plaintiff"'s attorney in a case tried 
at the Lancaster Assizes in 1817, in which he had appeared 
for the defendant. He certainly had attacked the unfor- 
tunate attorney in no measured terms, describing him as 
"a fraudulent and wicked attorney," terms, however, 
which appear to have been fully warranted by the facts of 
the case. It was held by the Court (Lord Ellenborough, c.j. , 
presiding) that the words were spoken in the cause, were 
relevant and pertinent to it, and consequently the action 
could not be maintained. Hodgson v. Scarlett thus became 
the leading case upon the privilege of counsel in conduct- 
ing a cause. As a stuff-gownsman Scarlett earned the 
sobriquet of "Verdict-getter," so successful was he with 
juries, and upon his elevation to the Bench in 1834, as 
Chief Baron of the Exchequer, his income amounted to 
;^i7,ooo a year. Upon his creation as Baron Abinger, he 
became known in his family as " Bingie." An indifferent 
sportsman, he was once staying at his brother's for the 
shooting. The day wore on without the Chief Baron 
having ruffled a feather. At last one of the beaters, as a 
bird got up, cried out, "Let little Bingie 'ave a shot; 'e 
can't 'it a barn-door ! " This was too much for the Chief 



BUILDINGS IN THE INNER TEMPLE 6i 

Baron, who, with a muttered oath and '* I can't stand 
this," beat a hasty and ignominious retreat. 

In 1824 Mr. Scarlett was Treasurer of our House. 

During- the latter part of his career at the Bar Scarlett 
occupied chambers at No. 2, King's Bench Walk, where 
is now to be found His Honour Judge William Willis, k.c. , 
one of the most popular men in the Temple, and the 
present Treasurer of the Inner Temple. Mr. Willis is 
the author of The Society and Fellowship of the hiner 
Temple, a brochure dealing with the distinguished 
members of our House. His chambers are shared by 
Mr. Bargrave Deane, K.c, a well-known advocate in the 
Divorce Court, and son of the late Sir James Parker 
Deane, the great ecclesiastical lawyer. Both father and 
son were Masters of the Bench of our House together for 
many years — a unique experience. It was at No. 5 that 
William Murray, afterwards the celebrated Lord Mans- 
field, occupied the chambers referred to by CoUey Gibber 
in his parody of the well-known lines by Pope : — 

" Persuasion tips his tong-ue whene'er he talks, 

And he has chambers in the King's Bench Walks. " 

Coming somewhat late to the Bar, Murray delighted in 
mixing with the great intellects of the day. With other 
well-known men. Pope was a constant visitor at No. 5, 
and the intimacy which sprang up between them was 
never broken, as some of Pope's other friendships were. 
Early in Murray's career the poet predicted for his pupil 
in the art of elocution a great career. In his Epistle to 
Mr. Murray, dated 1737, Pope asks :— 

"And what is fame? The meanest have their day ; 
The greatest can but blaze and pass away. 
Graced as thou art, with all the power of words, 
So known, so honoured, at the House of Lords." 

Murray's first great case was the defence of the Provost 
and Councillors of Edinburgh for their share in the 
Porteous Riots, and the reference by Pope to the House 



62 THE INNER AND MIDDLE TEMPLE 

of Lords is in allusion to Murray's successful appearance 
in a larg-e number of appeals to that House, The lines 
immediately following contain an exquisite compliment 
and a prophecy singularly fulfilled more than half a century 
afterwards : — 

" Conspicuous scene ! another yet is nigh, 
(More silent far) where kings and poets lie ; 
Where Murray (long enough his country's pride) 
Shall be no more than Tully or than Hyde." 

In the statesmen's aisle in Westminster Abbey may be 
seen the statue raised to the memory of this great man, 
"a character above all praise, the oracle of law, the 
standard of eloquence, and the pattern of all virtue both 
in public and private life." 

This statue was designed by Flaxman from the portrait 
by Sir Joshua Reynolds, reproduced here. 

At No. 5 also Murray was pestered with visits from Sarah, 
the famous Duchess of Marlborough, who had sent him 
a general retaining fee of one thousand guineas, which, 
however, he promptly returned. At the trial of Home 
Tooke in 1777 for libel, Lord Mansfield was the presiding 
judge, and he no doubt used his persuasive powers with 
the jury, as he did with the Benchers of the Inner Temple 
when they refused, two years later, to call Home Tooke 
to the Bar — a man who would have been an ornament to 
the profession. His rejection — ostensibly because he was 
still a clergyman — was as much due to the mean jealousy 
of certain practising Benchers as to the political bias of 
the great judge. When put on his trial for high treason. 
Home Tooke conducted his defence so ably as to baffle 
both the Bench and the Bar, and his usual good-humour 
never forsook him. One cold night, on returning from 
the Old Bailey to Newgate, a lady came up and put 
a silk handkerchief round his neck, when he exclaimed, 
"Pray, madam, be careful; I am rather ticklish at present 
about that particular place ! " 



BUILDINGS IN THE INNER TEMPLE 63 

Another notable inmate of No. 5 was Frederick Thesiger, 
who commenced life as a midshipman, and was present 
in 1807 on board the Camhyian at the second bombard- 
ment of Copenhagen. Becoming heir to his father's West 
India estates, he left the navy and entered Gray's Inn, by 
which society he was called in 18 18. 




N05K^G'S BENCH W\LKJ 



Amongst his early cases was an action of ejectment 
against his client, a lord of a manor, tried at Chelmsford, 
which brought him into such repute that, when raised to 
the peerage, he chose the title of Chelmsford in remem- 
brance of his first great success. 

Of his causes cclcbres perhaps the most remarkable 
was that in which he exposed the fraudulent pretensions 



64 THE INNER AND MIDDLE TEMPLE 

of the plaintiff to be the son of Sir Hugh Smyth, and as 
such entitled to large estates in Gloucestershire and other 
counties. This case no doubt formed the basis for Samuel 
Warren's Ten Thousand a Year. He was also junior 
counsel with John Campbell and Talfourd in the celebrated 
crim. con. suit by Mr. Norton against Lord Melbourne. 
He followed Sir William Webb Follett, both as Solicitor- 
and Attorney-General, and in 1852 received the Great 
Seal at the hands of Lord Derby. When Lord Chancellor 
he was sued by Mrs. Swinfen for alleged negligence as 
her counsel in the case of Swinfen v. Swinfefi. 

In 1832 Thesiger occupied chambers at 5, Brick Court, 
and from 1839 to 1842 in Twisden Buildings. 

Other notable tenants of chambers in King's Bench 
Walk were : Serjeant Parry, a member of the Middle 
Temple, at No. 8, erected in 1782 ; Mr. Justice Manisty, 
at No. 9, who occupied the room in which these lines 
were penned until his elevation to the Bench; Sir William 
Webb Follett, and Mr. Justice Bucknill, who delights to 
be known to his friends in the Temple (and they are legion) 
as "plain Tommy Bucknill," at No. 10; and Colin Black- 
burn (eventually one of the Lords of Appeal), at No. 5, in 
1840, a man of immense legal capacity and mental power, 
whose judgments in the House of Lords are distinguished 
for their knowledge and for their grasp of legal principles. 
At No. 12, the last house but one at the bottom of the 
Walk, was to be found, in 1850, Samuel Warren, q.c, 
a member of a long line of lawyers, himself a lawyer, 
politician, and novelist, and Treasurer of our House. 

His Ten Thousand a Year had an enormous sale. Mr. 
Quicksilver, counsel for Titmouse in Doe D. Titmouse 
V. Aubrey^ was an open caricature of Lord Brougham, 
whilst the immaculate Aubrey's counsel was inspired, 
I fancy, by Frederick Thesiger. The original of the 
famous firm of "Quirk, Gammon, and Snap," is said 
to have been " Harmer, Flower, and Steele." 




WILLIAM MUKKAY, EAKL Ol' .MA.NslIELD 



BUILDINGS IN THE INNER TEMPLE 65 

One of the great objects in this book was to hold up to 
ridicule the absurd old action of ejectment, a production 
desig-ned to rival in legal absurdity the case of Bardell 
V. Pickwick, in Dickens's immortal work, but a production 
somewhat marred by the learned author's too pronounced 




Lower King's Bench Walk. 



political opinions. These are the chambers which he 
describes in his novel as "this green old solitude, where 
I am writing, pleasantly recalling long past scenes of the 
bustling professional life." 

His literary vanity was colossal. Appointed to a 
Mastership in Lunacy by Lord Chelmsford (Frederick 
Thesiger), he arranged for a dramatic farewell to the 

F 



66 THE INNER AND MIDDLE TEMPLE 

House of Commons ; but the moment was unpropitious, 
and the attempt was a fiasco. The House does not 
tolerate such demonstrations, except at the hands of its 
greatest. Upon the report that Warren had refused this 
appointment, Disraeli remarked that "a writ de hinatico 
inquirendo would have to be issued for Mr. Warren." 

He seemed to imagine, writes Serjeant Robinson, that 
society in general spent all its spare time in thinking 
of him and admiring his productions. 

In chambers he was to be found with a huge pile of 
papers before him, as if engaged in getting up some 
great case. Whilst thus occupied he received one day 
a call from his friend Sir Henry Davison, upon whom 
he endeavoured to impress the extent of his practice 
and the select circle in which he moved. 

"In fact, we ought to dine," he said, "to-night with 
Lord and Lady Lyndhurst, but I have been obliged to 
refuse on conscientious grounds." 

"Oh," said Davison, "I am invited too. I will men- 
tion that I have found you overwhelmed with work." 

"I would rather you did not name the subject," said 
Warren; " my wife has already sent an excuse to Lady 
Lyndhurst." 

" Nonsense," said Davison ; "I shall be able to confirm 
her statement of your inability to attend." 

"You will oblige me by saying nothing about it," 
replied Warren. "Your statement might clash with the 
excuse my wife has given, and I am not aware of what 
she wrote." 

Finding Davison not to be diverted, Warren at last 
confessed that he had only been joking, and had not 
received any invitation at all. 

" Neither have I," said Davison. " I was joking too ! " 

In spite of these little weaknesses, Warren was a 
lovable character and a distinguished ornament of our 
House. 



BUILDINGS IN THE INNER TEMPLE 6-] 

PAPER BUILDINGS 

Heyward's Building-s, on the western side of the 
Walks, were erected about the year 1610 by one Edward 
Heyward, who had for his chamber-fellow here the great 
John Selden, perhaps the most celebrated lawyer of his 
own time. Upon their site now stand Paper Buildings, 
and on the very spot where Selden lodged and wrote his 
great treatise, Mare Clausum, at No. i, are the chambers 
occupied by Mr. Asquith, k.c, m.p., Home Secretary in 
the last Gladstonian Ministry. By returning to his practice 
at the Bar, Mr. Asquith has destroyed the old tradi- 
tion that an ex-Home Secretary must not appear before 
the judges whose decisions he may have had to review. 
These buildings were four stories high. The topmost 
had an open gallery, and in one of these rooms overlook- 
ing the gardens Selden lived. In 1620, upon the " dis- 
admittance " of Heyward, Selden was admitted, upon 
a fine of 40^., to the whole set, since the double chamber 
was *' but little, and had but one bed-chamber." 

Selden took a prominent part in affairs of State in those 
stirring times. Although trusted and consulted by James, 
he suffered imprisonment at his hands in 1621. He was 
one of the managers of Buckingham's impeachment in 
1626, and in the following year defended Hampden. 
He also assisted to hold down the Speaker in the 
chair on that memorable occasion when Holies read the 
" Protest," for which action he was arrested, and stood 
again in danger of imprisonment. He died in 1654 at 
the mansion of the Earls of Kent in Whitefriars, where 
he had rooms for many years, and where his famous 
library of 8,000 volumes was lodged. He left the large 
fortune of ^40,000, his executors being Sir Matthew 
Hale, Sir John Vaughan, his old friend Heyward, and 
Roland Jewkes. He was magnificently buried in the 
Temple Church, " near the steps where the saints' bell 



68 THE INNER AND MIDDLE TEMPLE 

hangeth," at night, after the primitive custom of the 
early Christians, his funeral being- attended by all the 
great men of the day. In an old print, dated 1755, a 
small belfry is shown over the west gable of the south 
aisle. His refusal to perform the office of Reader to 
Lyon's Inn brought him into collision with the Bench. 
He was fined ;^20, and disqualified to be called to the 
Bench or to be Reader of the House. Having made his 
peace, he was, eight years later, reinstated, and the 
following year called to the Bench. 

Edward Law, the celebrated Lord Ellenborough, after 
being called to the Bar by Lincoln's Inn, became a 
member of our House in 1783, and in 1785 we find him 
at No. 6, Paper Buildings. He was leading counsel for 
the defence of Warren Hastings, and in 1802 he was 
created Chief Justice of the King's Bench, the last holder 
of that ofiice to sit in the Cabinet. He was one of the 
greatest of our Common Law judges. His son Edward 
became Governor-General of India and first Earl of 
Ellenborough. He married for his second wife a lady 
of great beauty and accomplishments, from whom he 
obtained a divorce in 1830 for misconduct with Prince 
Schwarzenburg. Lady Ellenborough is said to have 
been the mistress of the King of Bavaria, although 
married to one of his barons. After a career of adventure 
in Europe the lady married at Damascus the Sheikh 
Mijwal, and lived for many years in the desert. 

Another distinguished member of our House is Stephen 
Lushington, who, called to the Bar in 1806, was to be 
found the following year at No. 14, Paper Buildings. 
Returned for Great Yarmouth in the Whig interest, 
Lushington, an ardent reformer, took an active and 
leading part in the great political questions of the day. 
His ability as counsel was evidenced by his masterly 
speech in the defence of Queen Caroline. As Judge of 
the High Court of Admiralty, and as Dean of Arches in 




i^P 



(<■'- 




BUILDINGS IN THE INNER TEMPLE 69 

matters ecclesiastical, he attained the highest eminence. 
He died in the ninety-second year of his age at Ockham 
Park, still one of Surrey's beauty spots. 

Edward Hall Alderson, called in 181 1 by the Inner 
Temple, a few years later also had chambers at No. 14. 
After a most distinguished career at Cambridge — he was 
Senior Wrangler, first Smith's prizeman, and first Chan- 
cellor's medallist, a treble event only once equalled, and 
never excelled — he became a pupil of the great Chitty, 
and ultimately Baron Alderson, of the Court of Exchequer. 
By lawyers he is remembered as the author of Bnrnewall 
and Aldersoji's Reports^ but by the public as the father 
of the late talented Marchioness of Salisbury, whose 
romantic marriage with Lord Robert Cecil, now Prime 
Minister, is matter of history. Their second son, Lord 
Robert Cecil, k.c. , occupies chambers at 4, Paper Build- 
ings, not very far from the site of his grandfather's 
rooms. 

Two other eminent men, not lawyers, George Canning, 
the statesman, and Samuel Rogers, the poet, lived in 
these buildings in 1792, when the latter published his 
Pleasures of Memory, a production which appealed so 
strongly to the taste of the day. Rogers was an intimate 
of Fox, Sheridan, and Home Tooke, and spent some 
time with Byron and Shelley at Pisa. 

It was to these chambers that Rogers relates how 
Mackintosh and Richard Sharpe used to resort and stay 
for hours arguing metaphysics, to such extent indeed 
that Rogers used to leave them to it and go out, pay his 
visits, transact his business, and return only to find them 
still at it, and quite oblivious of his absence. 

Rogers was a great talker himself, and in company 
would brook no rival. He used to tell an amusing story 
of a duel between an Englishman and a Frenchman, the 
latter of whom had insisted upon fighting in a dark room. 
The Englishman, unwilling to hurt his antagonist, when 



70 THE INNER AND MIDDLE TEMPLE 

his turn came to shoot fired up the chimney, when to his 
astonishment down came the Frenchman, who had taken 
refuge there. "But," added Rogers, with a sly wink, 
"when I tell that story in Paris, it is the Englishman 
who gets up the chimney." 

Two new buildings, said by contemporary writers to 
be "very elegant," were added in 1830 to the sovith-east 
wing. 

At the time of their destruction by fire in 1838, John 
Campbell, afterwards the famous Lord Chancellor, and 
Sir John Maule were inmates. In fact, the story goes 
that the latter, before retiring to rest after a convivial 
evening, carefully placed his lighted candle under his 
bed ! At any rate the fire broke out in Maule's room, 
but perhaps it would be more charitable to accept 
Campbell's version, that "he had gone to bed, leaving 
a candle burning by his bedside." 

These were the buildings referred to by Charles Lamb 
when he demanded, in his essay on The Old Benchers^ 
"Who has removed those frescoes of the Virtues, which 
Italianised the end of Paper Buildings ? — my first hint 
of allegory ! " In the illustration at page 6 these frescoes 
or sculptures, the removal of which so roused Lamb's ire, 
may be faintly discerned. 

At No. 2 the late Sir Frank Lockwood, Q.c. , had 
chambers. His cheery, genial presence and unfailing 
wit and humour will not readily be forgotten in the 
Temple or in the Courts. He was Solicitor-General in 
the last Liberal Administration. 

A very characteristic story is told of Maule, which is 
said to have been the immediate cause of the Divorce 
Act. Addressing a hawker convicted of bigamy, he 
said: "You have broken the laws of your country. 
You had a drunken, unfaithful wife, the curse of your 
existence and her own. You knew the remedy the law 
gave you, to bring an action against the seducer, recover 



BUILDINGS L\ THE INNER TEMPLE 71 

damages from him, then go to the House of Lords and 
get a divorce. It would have cost you altogether ^1,000. 
You may say you never had a tenth of that sum : that is 
no defence in law. Sitting here as an English judge, it is 
my duty to tell you that this is not a country in which 
there is one law for the rich and another for the poor. 
Your sentence is one day's imprisonment." 



CROWN OFFICE ROW 

It was at No. 2, Crown Office Row, in a back room, 
that Charles Lamb was born, and here he spent the first 
twenty years of his life. These buildings were erected in 
1737, partly replacing the row of chambers rebuilt in 
1628, described by Dugdale as "the Great Brick Build- 
ings over against the Garden." Upon the terrace hard 
by paced the lawyers whom Lamb has depicted so de- 
lightfully in The Old Bencliers of tlic Inner Temple. 

Here walked to and fro Jekyll with the roguish eye, 
ever ready to be delivered of a jest ; Thomas Coventry, 
of elephantine step, " the scarecrow of inferiors, the 
brow-beater of equals and superiors, the terror of children 
wherever he came, for they fled his insufferable presence 
as they would have shunned an Elisha bear " ; Peter 
Pierson, benevolent but ugly ; Daines Barrington, "another 
oddity"; old Barton, "a jolly negation"; Read and 
Twopenny, the one good-humoured and personable, the 
other thin and felicitous; Wharry, with the " singular 
gait," which did not seem to advance him faster than 
other people ; the omniscient Jackson, the Friar Bacon of 
the less literate portion of the Temple ; Mingay, with the 
iron hand ; and last, but not least, the genial Salt, the 
life-long benefactor of John Lamb and his children, who 
had acquired a great reputation for learning, but who 
was wont to hand over any perplexing opinion to Lovell 
(Lamb's father), his clerk and factotum, to be elucidated 



72 THE INNER AND MIDDLE TEMPLE 

by the light of nature, or by such common sense as the 
worthy Lovell possessed. 

After living elsewhere, Lamb returned with his sister, 
in the year 1800, to his beloved Temple, residing for the 
first eight years at No. 16, Mitre Court Buildings, and for 
the last nine years on the third and fourth floors of No. 4, 
Inner Temple Lane, looking from the back windows into 
Hare Court, with its pump, and trees rustling against the 
window-pane. The three trees are still there, but the old 
pump has vanished. 

"Do you know it?" Lamb wrote to Manning. "I 
was born near it, and used to drink at that pump when I 
was a Rechabite of six years old. Here I hope to set up 
my rest, and not to quit till Mr. Powell, the undertaker, 
gives me notice that I may have possession of my last 
lodging." This hope was, however, not realised, for he 
left the Temple for good and died at Edmonton in 1834. 

Few would accuse Lamb of intemperance. Still, the 
following letter to his physician at Enfield shows that the 
best of us sometimes fall from grace : — 

"Dear Sir, — It is an observation of a wise man that 
' moderation is best in all things.' I cannot agree with 
him 'in liquor.' There is a smoothness and oiliness in 
wine that makes it go down by a natural channel which I 
am positive was made for that descending. Else, why 
does not wine choke us ? Could Nature have made that 
sloping lane, not to facilitate the downgoing? She does 
nothing in vain. You know that better than I. You 
know how often she has helped you at a dead lift, and 
how much better entitled she is to a fee than yourself 
sometimes when you carry off" the credit. Still, there is 
something due to manners and customs, and I should 
apologise to you and Mrs. A. for being absolutely carried 
home upon a man's shoulders through Silver Street, up 
Parson's Lane, by the Chapels (which might have taught 
me better), and then to be deposited like a dead log at 
GafFar Westwood's, who, it seems, does not 'insure' 
against intoxication. Not that the mode of conveyance 



BUILDINGS IN THE INNER TEMPLE n 

is objectionable. On the contrary, it is more easy than 

a one-horse chaise I protest I thought myself 

in a palanquin, and never felt myself so grandly 
carried. It was a slave under me. There was I, all 
but my reason. And what is reason ? And what is 
the loss of it? And how often in a day do we 
do without it just as well? Reason is only counting 
two and two makes four. And if on my passage home 
I thought it made five, what matter? Two and two 
will just make four, as it always did before I took the 
finishing glass that did my business. My sister has 
begged me to write an apology to Mrs. A. and you for 
disgracing your party. Now, it does seem to me that I 
rather honoured your party, for everyone that was not 
drunk (and one or two of the ladies, I am sure, were not) 
must have been set off greatly in the contrast to me. I 
was the scapegoat. The soberer they seemed. By the 
way, is magnesia good on these occasions ? Three ounces 
of pol med sum ante noct in rub can. I am no licentiate, 







N° 2.- "CR^M •QEFICE' E^^ 



74 THE INNER AND MIDDLE TEMPLE 

but know enoug^h of simples to beg- you to send me a 
draught after this model. But still you will say (or the 
men and maids at your house will say) that it is not a 
seemly sig-ht for an old gentleman to go home pick-a-back. 
Well, maybe it is not. But I never studied grace. I 
take it to be a mere superficial accomplishment. I regard 
more the internal acquisitions. The great object after 
supper is to get home, and whether that is obtained in a 
horizontal posture or perpendicular (as foolish men and 
apes affect for dignity) I think is little to the purpose. The 
end is always greater than the means. Here I am, able 
to compose a sensible, rational apology, and what signifies 
how I got here? I have just sense enough to remember 
I was very happy last night, and to thank our kind host 
and hostess, and that's sense enough, I hope. 

" Charles Lamb." 

I should add that a copy of this letter was handed to 

me for publication by the daughter of Mr. A , at 

whose house, during the years 1829-32, Lamb was a 
constant visitor. 

Serjeant Talfourd, the intimate friend and biographer 
of Lamb, has left us a graphic picture of those Wednesday 
nights at No. 4, Inner Temple Lane, which for "good 
talk " he compares with the dinners at Holland House. 
In No. 4, at ten o'clock of an autumn or winter evening, 
the sedater part of the company is already assembled 
round a blazing fire and clean-swept hearth, whilst the 
whist-tables suggest the business of the evening, and 
the stragglers from the play are beginning to drop in. 
"The furniture is old-fashioned and worn, the ceiling low 
and not wholly unstained by traces of 'the great plant,' 
though now virtuously forborne ; but the Hogarths, in 
narrow black frames, abounding in infinite thought, 
humour, and pathos, enrich the walls; and all things wear 
an air of comfort and English welcome." Presently Lamb 
himself, yet unrelaxed by the glass, may be seen sitting 
with a sort of Quaker primness at the whist-table, the 



BUILDINGS IN THE INNER TEMPLE 75 

gentleness of his melancholy smile half lost in his intent- 
ness on the game, with Godwin, the author of Political 
Justice, as his partner. Their opponents are Admiral 
Burney, a pupil of Eugene Aram and stout-hearted voyager 
with Captain Cook in his voyage round the world, and 
H. C. Rickman, the sturdiest of jovial companions, severe 
in the discipline of whist as at the table of the House of 
Commons, where he was the principal clerk. 

At another table, just outside the fireside circle, John 
Lamb, the burly, jovial brother, confronts the stately but 
courteous Alsager, while Procter, his few hairs bristling 
at gentle objurgation, watches his partner M. Burney 
dealing, with "soul more white " than the hands of which 
Lamb once said, " Martin, if dirt was trumps, what hands 
you would hold." 

In one corner you may listen to Charles Lloyd debating 
the theory of "free-will" with Leigh Hunt, or to Basil 
Montague, who is pouring into the outstretched ear of 
George Dyer some tale of legalised injustice. The room 
fills up : in slouches William Hazlitt from the theatre, 
where his stubborn anger for Napoleon's defeat at Waterloo 
has been softened by Miss Stephen's angelic notes ; whilst 
Kenny, with tremulous pleasure, announces a crowded 
house to the ninth representation of his new comedy, of 
which Lamb lays down his cards to inquire, or Ayrton, 
mildly radiant, whispers the continual triumph of Don 
Giovanni. Later Liston looks in, or Miss Kelly, the rage 
of the town, or Charles Kemble, fresh from the play. 

"Meanwhile Becky lays the cloth on the side-table, 
under the direction of the most quiet, sensible, and kind 
of women — who soon compels the younger and more 
hungry of the guests to partake largely of the cold roast 
lamb or boiled beef, the heaps of smoking roasted potatoes 
and the vast jug of porter, often replenished from the 
foaming pots, which the best tap of Fleet Street supplies. 
... As the hot water and its accompaniments appear, 



76 THE INNER AND MIDDLE TEMPLE 

and the severities of whist relax, the light of conversation 
thickens. . . . Lamb stammers out puns suggestive of 
wisdom for happy Barron Field to admire and echo ; the 
various driblets of talk combine into a stream, while Miss 
Lamb moves gently about to see that each modest stranger 
is duly served, turning, now and then, an anxious, loving 
eye on Charles, which is softened into a half-humorous 
expression of resignation to inevitable fate, as he mixes 
his second tumbler! " What, then, if Lamb did occasionally 
conform to the custom of his time ? Who are we moderns 
to cast a stone at the noblest and most generous of man- 
kind ? 

And here, too, though but rarely, came Samuel Taylor 
Coleridge, and when he talked a hush fell on that little 
circle. Critics, philosophers, and poets were content to 
listen ; toil-worn lawyers, clerks from the India House, 
and members of the Stock Exchange grew romantic as 
he lavishly outpoured the riches of a master mind, 

"Gone ; all are gone, the old familiar faces," and yet 
at the bidding of the learned Serjeant that Temple attic, 
now but a shade, is thronged once more with that brilliant 
little crowd. 

The Daines Barrington whose eccentricities attracted 
Lamb's attention cut a very poor figure at the English 
Bar, though he was successively promoted to be one of 
the King's Counsel and a Welsh judge. These judge- 
ships during the eighteenth century were given to briefless 
barristers for political services. 

The Hon. Daines was Treasurer of the Inner, and had 
chambers at No. 5, King's Bench Walk. When the 
accounts of his treasurership came to be audited, the 
following singular charge was unanimously disallowed 
by the Bench, viz. " Item disbursed : Mr. Allen, the 
gardener, twenty shillings for stuff to poison the sparrows 
by my orders." 

Such reputation as he had was literary rather than 



BUILDINGS IN THE INNER TEMPLE 77 

leg-al, and he has incurred the wrath of Serjeant Pulling- 
for his attempt to belittle the noble and ancient Order of 
the Coif. 

Whether he was made a Welsh judge for his Account 
of some Fish in Wales, or whether his treatise on Welsh 
fish was due to his experiences as a Welsh judge, is a 
question too delicate to be discussed here. Nevertheless, 
he was regarded by his contemporaries as a sound lawyer; 
but possessed of an ample fortune, he preferred to devote 
his energies rather to the study of archaeology and natural 
history than the practice of the law. Held in the highest 
respect for his integrity, and loved by all for a charming 
personality, he died at No. 5 in 1800, and was buried in 
the Temple Church. 

Joseph Jekyll, K.c, M.P. for Calne, and Solicitor-General 
to the Prince of Wales, occupied chambers in 1805 at 
No. 6, King's Bench Walk. It was the small pocket 
borough of Calne which returned Charles Townshend, 
and subsequently sent T. B. Macaulay to the House. 
After this incident the following lines appeared : — 

"Jekyll, the wag- of law, the scribbler's pride, 
Calne to the Senate sent when Townshend died ; 
So Lansdowne willed the hoarse old rook to rest, 
A jackdaw phoenix chatters from his nest." 

Of him, Lord Colchester, his connection, said: "First-rate 
for convivial wit and pleasantry, and admired by all. 
A frequent speaker in Parliament, but absolutely without 
weight even in his own party. Rancorous in language, 
feeble in argument, and empty of ideas, few people 
applaud his rising, and everybody is glad when he sits 
down." The latter sentiment might be expressed with 
equal truth upon the performances of some of our 
legislators of to-day. 

At No. 4, James Mingay, Recorder of Aldborough, was 
to be found in the year 1783. 

John Reade (not Read) lived at 16, Mitre Court 



7^ THE INNER AND MIDDLE TEMPLE 

Building-s, in 1805, and in the same year we find J. B. 
Barton at the same address, and, perhaps, sharing- the 
same chambers, but the "old Barton" referred to by 
Lamb was more probably Thomas Barton, the Bencher, 
who had chambers in King's Bench Walk. 

Randle Jackson, in 1810, resided at 14, Paper Building-s, 
and William Jackson at 2, Garden Court, thoug-h the 
former is more probably the one referred to by Lamb. 
Randle, by the way, was a Bencher of the Middle Temple, 
and died, as a tablet to his memory in the triforium 
testifies, in 1837, The names of Coventry, Pierson, 
Twopenny, and Wharry, however, do not appear in the 
Law Lists of the period, but a monumental tablet in the 
triforium describes Peter Pierson as a Bencher of the 
Inner Temple. He died in 1808. There is also a similar 
memorial to John Wharry, described as a Bencher of the 
same society. He died in 181 2. 

On the same staircase with the witty Jekyll, the favourite 
adviser of Prince George, lived the younger Colman. 
His chambers have been described as "furnished with 
a tent-bedstead, two tables, half a dozen chairs, and a 
carpet as much too scanty for the boards as Sheridan's 
' rivulet of rhyme' for its 'meadow of margin.'" Here 
his father left him with ^10 worth of old law books, and 
no sooner had the elder Colman turned his back on the 
Temple than the youngster set off to Gretna Green with 
Miss Catherine Morris, an actress of the Haymarket. 
He was a student of Lincoln's Inn. 

The Thomas Coventry referred to by Lamb was a 
descendant of Lord Keeper Coventry, a Bencher of the 
Inner, 1614, 

Baron Maseres, who lived near Lamb in Mitre Court, 
is also mentioned by him for his eccentricity in walking 
about in the costume of George II. 

Although no mean lawyer, Maseres was better known 
as an antiquary of some distinction. 



BUILDINGS IN THE INNER TEMPLE 79 

Another famous writer intimately associated with the 
Temple is William Makepeace Thackeray. Born at 
Calcutta in 181 1, little Thackeray came to Eng-land after 
the death of his father, in 1817, and in due course went 
to Charterhouse, where he somewhat belied his second 
name by his celebrated fight with Venables on the Lower 
Green. This sing^ular name, according- to the family 
tradition, is derived from some ancestor who had figured 
as a Protestant martyr in the reign of Philip and 
Mary. 

In 1 83 1 young Thackeray became a member of the 
Middle Temple, and commenced his legal studies by 
reading with Mr. William Taprell, a special pleader, 
whose chambers were at i, Hare Court. 

Special pleading in those days was a branch quite 
distinct from advocacy, and its study had no attraction 
for Thackeray, who denounced this part of a barrister's 
education "as one of the most cold-blooded, prejudiced 
pieces of invention that ever man was slave to." So 
disgusted was Thackeray that within a twelvemonth he 
threw up all idea of entering the legal profession and 
devoted himself to literary pursuits. That his genius 
took a direction other than the law is fortunate for us, 
since he has bequeathed to posterity some of the most 
delightful pictures of life in the Temple to be found 
throughout English literature. Of these pictures many 
indeed are as faithful representations of Temple life as 
when they were drawn, for lawyers are everywhere a 
conservative class, and perhaps nowhere more so than 
in the Temple, within whose precincts old customs and 
b3'gone manners survive in all their pristine strength to 
remind us of the "long ago." It may still be said, for 
instance, of dining in the Middle Temple Hall, as when 
Thackeray sal at mess in his student's gown, "that with 
some trifling improvements and anachronisms, which have 
been introduced into the practice there, a man may sit 



8o THE INxNER AND MIDDLE TEMPLE 

down and fancy that he joins in a meal of the seventeenth 
century." 

It was soon after the publication of Vafiity Fair that 
Thackeray's friend and patron, Monckton Milnes, con- 
ceived the idea of obtaining- for the novelist a London 
magistracy, and with a view to this appointment 
Thackeray returned to the Temple, and was called to 
the Bar by the Middle Temple on May 26th, 1848. Both 
Milnes and Thackeray, however, had overlooked the 
necessary qualification, viz. seven years' standing at the 
Bar, and the project accordingly fell to the ground. 
Nevertheless, Thackeray took chambers at 10, Crown 
Office Row. These chambers, Mr. Loftie asserts, he 
shared with Tom Taylor, the dramatist and subsequent 
editor of Punchy with which Thackeray was then con- 
nected. For this allegation I can find no direct con- 
firmation. On the contrary, Tom Taylor's chambers were 
at this period at 3, Fig Tree Court. Thackeray occupied 
the chambers at 10, Crown Office Row, till the year 
1850-1, and for the following two years he had no 
address in the Temple. In 1853, however, he migrated 
to No. 2, Brick Court, which address appears in the 
Law Lists up to 1859, and till his death, in 1863, his 
name still appeared, an indication of his affection for the 
Temple he loved so well. 

From a poem by Tom Taylor, published in W. G. 
Thornbury's Two Centuries of Song, entitled " Ten 
Crown Office Row : a Templar's Tribute to his Old 
Chambers and his Old Chum," it is clear that these 
chambers formed part of the block of old houses stand- 
ing between the archway and No. 3, Crown Office 
Row. These houses, erected in 1628, as already men- 
tioned, were pulled down and rebuilt two years before 
Thackeray's death. It is also tolerably certain from 
intrinsic evidence that Tom Taylor shared chambers here 
with a fellow-barrister, and that here both of them enter- 



BUILDINGS IN THE INNER TEMPLE 8i 

tained their future wives. In his ode to his " Cane- 
bottomed Chair," Thackeray probably alludes to these 
rooms, where "Fanny" used to sit in the shabby old 
cane-bottomed chair. 

" In tattered old slippers that toast at the bars, 
And a rag-ged old jacket perfumed with cig'ars, 
Away from the world and its toils and its cares, 
I've a snug little king-dom up four pair of stairs." 

Although Taylor had chambers in Fig- Tree Court for 
business purposes, he may well have shared these 
residential chambers with Thackeray, with whom he was 
undoubtedly on intimate terms. But whether these 
verses were addressed to the novelist seems doubtful, 
since Thackeray had been married twelve years before 
he came to Crown Office Row, and Tom Taylor was only 
called by the Inner Temple in 1846. The description, 
however, agrees with Thackeray's, and is worthy of 
reproduction here : — 

"They were fust}', they were musty, they were g:riniy, dull, anil dim, 
The paint scaled off the paneling-, the stairs were all untrim ; 
The flooring creaked, the windows gaped, the doorposts stood 

awry, 
The wind whipt round the corner with a wild and wailing cry. 
In a dingier set of chambers no man need wish to stow 
Than those, old friend, wherein we denned at Ten Crow-n Office 
Row. 

"Some of those tuneful voices will never sound again. 
And some will read these lines far o'er the Indian main ; 
And smiles will come to some wan lips, tears to some sunken eyes, 
To think of all these lines recall of Temple memories ; 
And they will sigh, as we have sighed, to learn the bringing low 
Of those old chambers, dear old friend, at Ten Crown Office Row. 

"Good-bye, old rooms, where we chummed years without a single 
fight: 

Far statelier sets of chambers will arise upon your site ; 
More airy bedrooms, wider panes, our followers will see, 
And wealthier, wiser tenants the Inn may find than we, 
But lighter hearts or truer, I'll defy the Bench to show 

Than yours, old friend, and his who penned this Ten Crown Office 
Row." 
G 



82 THE INNER AND MIDDLE TEMPLE 

Although lo, Crown Office Row, has disappeared, and 
even its number lost, two building-s connected with 
Thackeray's own Hfe still survive, viz. No. i, Hare Court, 
and No. 2, Brick Court, the latter sacred also to the 
memory of Goldsmith and Mackworth Praed. 

Upon the same staircase with Thackeray in Crown 
Office Row, and about the same time, lived John Barnard 
Byles, now commonly remembered as " Byles on Bills," 
the author of a well-known standard textbook on the 
law of bills of exchange. Whilst Byles was still at 
the Bar he was the proud possessor of a horse, or rather 
pony, which, in allusion to his book, was nicknamed 
"Bills" by the young Templars. This animal, whose 
sorry appearance caused endless amusement in the 
Temple, used to arrive at the entrance to 10, Crown 
Office Row, every afternoon at three o'clock, and what- 
ever his engagements, Byles always contrived to go for 
a ride upon " Bills." 

Once in a case upon the seventeenth section of the 
Statute of Frauds, Mr. Justice Byles, as he had become, 
said to counsel, " Suppose I were to agree to sell you my 
horse, do you mean to say that I could not recover the 
price unless," etc., etc. "My lord," replied counsel, 
" the section only applies to things of the value of ;2^io," 
a retort which all who had ever seen the judge's steed 
keenly appreciated. 

Although a supporter of the "Corn Laws," Byles was 
in advance of his age upon the question of "Usury." 
His ideas upon this question have only been partially 
realised by the Money Lending Act of 1900. Byles 
was appointed a Justice of the Common Pleas by Lord 
Cranworth, taking the seat of Sir Cress well Cress well, 
whose chambers were at 1, Mitre Court Buildings, in 
18 19. Cress well used to tell a story of a lady who was 
being carried to a reception at Northumberland House 
in a sedan-chair, when the bottom fell out. Failing to 



BUILDINGS IN THE INNER TEMPLE 83 

make the bearers acquainted with her situation and 
unable to g'et out, the good lady was compelled to travel 
at her best pace on foot throug-h the mire the rest of 
the way, arriving at her destination in an exhausted and 
deplorable condition. 

Next door to Byles a little later, at No. 9, Crown 
Office Row, was to be found George W. Bramwell, a 
member of the Inner Temple, and like Taprell, Chitty, 
Byles, and Warren, in his earlier years one of that little 
band of special pleaders so heartily detested by Thackeray. 

For nearly thirty years Bramwell was the most widely 
known of the English Bench. His judgments were read 
in America with almost as much respect as in this 
country, which time has only intensified. An American 
visitor, explaining the object of his visit, said, "I wish 
to see Westminster Hall and Lord Bramwell." But 
Bramwell could be brief when occasion required. A 
prisoner was before him charged with stealing a ham. 
The day was hot, counsel were loquacious, the audience 
perspired, and so did the ham, which made its presence 
felt as the day wore on. At last, everyone being weary, 
the judge's turn came. "There, gentlemen," he said, 
"is the prisoner and there is the ham. Gentlemen, con- 
sider your verdict." He was raised to the peerage in 
1882, upon Gladstone's nomination. 

The old Crown Office is described as lying between 
Fig Tree Court and the Watergate on the east side of 
Middle Temple Lane. This would place it north of 
Harcourt Buildings, on the site of the present No. 7, 
Crown Office Row, over the archway, which was rebuilt 
in 1806. In 1542 it was ordered that "the Clerk of the 
Crown of the Kynges Bench " should pay twenty shillings 
a year for his office. 

This officer was in 1523 Thomas Blake, and in 1613 
Fanshawe was charged an annual rent of ^3 6s. 8(/. 
These buildings were pulled down in 1628 and rebuilt. 



84 THE INNER AND MIDDLE TEMPLE 

Just below were, perhaps, the chambers erected by 
Edward Savag-e and Edward Hancock, who had licence 
in 1 59 1 to build in the lower part of the garden next 
to Ledsome's Chambers. The latter in 1594 was allowed 
to prop up his chambers by the erection of "three ranks 
of studies against his buildings, which, by reason of a 
false foundation, had shrunk a foot and a half towards 
the Thames," showing that even in those good old days 
the jerry builder was sometimes at work. 

From the Bird's Eye View of 1671, these three ranks of 
studies would appear to have been still standing at that date. 

In 162 1 the Crown Office was removed to No. 2, King's 
Bench Walk. This building was erected at a cost to the 
society of ^1,802 6s., towards which the Marquis of 
Buckingham, who was Master of the office, contributed 
p/^400. The building was entrusted to the Treasurer, 
Sir Thomas Coventry, and the first tenants of "the 
many fair chambers over the office " were the Solicitor- 
General, Sir John Walter, and Mr. Bridgman. Sir John 
Walter was the counsel who, on being briefed for the 
Crown in the prosecution against Sir Edward Coke, 
courageously refused to accept the brief, saying, "Let 
my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth when I open 
it against Sir Edward Coke." 

For the use of this office the Crown paid an annual 
rent of ^5 to the Inn. 

The Clerk of the Crown had his office in the Temple 
from the reign of Henry VII. until the removal of the 
Crown Office in 1882 to the Royal Courts of Justice. 

On the opposite side, abutting on Mitre Court Build- 
ings, was the office of the Exchequer, which was rebuilt 
in 1830, and is now used as the Inner Temple Reading 
Room. At the bottom of King's Bench Walk, close 
to the river wall and half-way between the buildings 
on either side, a small building, surmounted by a 
weathercock of the winged horse, is shown in the 



BUILDINGS IN THE INNER TEMPLE 85 

Bird's Eye View of 167 1. This may be the office of 
the Chirographer of the Fines of the Court of Common 
Pleas, which, according to Stow, was destroyed in the 
Great Fire. He tells us that "the Records were re- 
engrossed and a new office built in a wide open court 
of the Temple, near the waterside, not adjacent to any 
other buildings for the better security." 

Whether this be so or not, this building was replaced 
in 1678 by the row of chambers shown in the Bird's Eye 
View of 1755, and marked on the map of 1799 as the 
King's Bench Office. They were still standing within 
the memory of old practitioners in the Temple. At the 
latter date the Court of Common Pleas had two other 
offices elsewhere. 

The Alienation Office, which in the Earl of Leicester's 
day stood on the site of No. i, King's Bench Walk, is 
marked on the map of 1799 at No. 3 North. 

One of the early occupants of the new buildings in 
Crown Office Row, at No. 5, to wit, was Montagu 
Williams, Q.c, the distinguished criminal advocate. An 
Eton boy, young Williams commenced an eventful career 
as a schoolmaster at Ipswich Grammar School. Upon the 
outbreak of the Crimean War, tired of the dull life at 
Ipswich, Williams obtained a commission in the Royal 
South Lincoln Militia, from which he was shortly after- 
wards gazetted to the 96th regiment of the line. Deter- 
mined to see active service, Williams exchanged into the 
41st, which was then at the front ; but his hopes were 
disappointed by the capture of Sebastopol and the return 
of his regiment. 

Whilst in the service young Williams joined in all the 
fun that was going on, and in consequence became 
involved in several unpleasant escapades, being locked 
up at Bow Street for assaulting the police, of which he 
was entirely innocent, and being arrested for debt by 
a notorious money-lender named Cook, by whom he 



86 THE INNER AND MIDDLE TEMPLE 

had been entrapped. Upon the latter, however, in after 
life he had his revenge when, as prosecuting counsel, he 
succeeded in getting him twelve months. 

Upon his regiment being ordered out to the West 
Indies, Williams sent in his papers and went on the 
stage, where he met his fate in the talented Miss Keeley, 
daughter of the well-known Mr. and Mrs. Robert Keeley, 
with whom he made a runaway match. 

From the stage to Bar is a short step for one born of 
a legal family, and, having entered as a student at the 
Inner Temple, Williams filled up his spare time by 
collaborating with Frank Burnand in various dramatic 
pieces, which proved financially successful. Called to 
the Bar in 1862, Williams read with Mr. Holl at 5, Paper 
Buildings, and devoting his attention to the criminal 
law, soon picked up a practice at the Old Bailey, where 
for many years he held such a commanding position. 

From 1863 to 1870 Williams occupied chambers at 
No. 6, King's Bench Walk, when he removed to Crown 
Office Row. 

One of the most curious cases in which Williams 
appeared was as counsel for Lord Brampton, then Mr. 
Hawkins, Q.c, in prosecuting an unsuccessful litigant 
who had threatened the learned silk's life, and by his 
molestation made his very existence a burden. 

"Never," writes Williams, "was I ever so nervous in 
examining a witness, and never had a worse witness than 
Hawkins ! " 

Another link with the stage Williams had in the person 
of Charles Willie Mathews, son of his friend Charles 
James Mathews, the celebrated comedian. He became 
a pupil of Williams in 1868, and remained as his "devil" 
till 1879, sharing chambers with him in Crown Office 
Row. For him his master predicted a great future. 
He is now senior counsel to the Treasury at the Old 
Bailey. Mr. Mathews is a member of the Middle Temple. 



BUILDINGS IN THE INNER TEMPLE 87 

Visited by an affection of the throat, Williams was 
obliged, in 1886, to retire from the Bar. Created a 
Queen's Counsel by his old friend and antagonist, Lord 
Halsbury, he was appointed a Metropolitan magistrate, 
in which capacity he earned the title of "the poor man's 
magistrate." It was during this period that he wrote his 
reminiscences. Leaves of a Life and Later Leaves^ books 
reminding us of the peculiar charm of this versatile man, 
and full of interest to the lawyer and literary man alike. 
He died at Ramsgate in 1892. 

An anecdote related by Williams typical of his humour 
is too good to be omitted. In a murder case on circuit 
a certain Welsh advocate, who afterwards became a 
judge, appeared for the prisoner upon the instruction of 
the leading local solicitor. In the course of his cross- 
examination the counsel declined to put a question, as 
repeatedly requested by his client. 

"Well, sir," exclaimed the solicitor at last, "there are 
my instructions, and mine is the responsibility. There- 
fore I insist upon your putting the question." 

"Very well, sir," exclaimed the barrister; "I'll put 
the question, but remember, as you say, yours is the 
responsibility." 

The question was accordingly put and resulted very 
materially in hanging the prisoner. Sentence having been 
pronounced, the counsel turned round in a fearful rage to 
the solicitor and exclaimed — 

"When you meet your client in hell, which you un- 
doubtedly will, you will be kind enough to tell him that it 
was your question and not mine." 

HARCOURT BUILDINGS 

Between the old Crown Office and the site of Harcourt 
Buildings on the south side of Crown Office Row, a small 
building was erected in the year 1703 by John Banks, a 
haberdasher in the City. It had a ten-foot frontage, and 



88 THE INNER AND MIDDLE TEMPLE 

the first story or g-round floor opened out into the garden 
under the paved walk or terrace, whilst the second story 
or first floor appears to have been on a level with the 
terrace. With the ground floor was connected a summer 
house, and the whole was to be for such use as the society 
might appoint. 

Below this building, on the west ot the garden, the 
same John Banks was licensed to build three staircases, 
with a frontage of fifty feet apiece and a depth of twenty- 
seven feet, of three stories each. The front windows 
were "to be all sash frames and sashes glazed with 




■ &- _ ^&> 



crown glass." These buildings were erected during the 
Treasurership of Sir Simon Harcourt, and instead of 
being named after the worthy Banks, were called Har- 
court Buildings, after the silver-tongued Chancellor. In 
the course of their construction the gardener's house, 
which stood at the lower end of the site, was pulled 
down. 

The present buildings were commenced in the Trea- 
surership of Robert Baker, in 1832, and completed in that 
of John Wyatt the following year. They are not re- 
markable for the style of their architecture, which, in 
fact, could scarcely be more unsightly. 



BUILDINGS IN THE INNER TEMPLE 89 

FIG TREE COURT 

The original chambers in Fig Tree Court would appear 
to be some of the oldest in the Temple. In 15 15 we read 
of "the chambers next the fig tree," showing that the 
name was not altogether mythical at that date. In the 
accounts for 1610 there is an entry of a payment to the 
gardener for a fig tree, which may have survived, at any 
rate, till 1654, when an item of 2^. 6d. is recorded as paid 
" to the joiner for mending the pales about the fig tree." 

In 1573 Edward Bulstrode and Thomas Gawen were 
admitted into the chamber of Robert Kellewaie, a Bencher 
in "the Fig Tree Courte," wherein John Croke the younger 
had been admitted in 1570, provided they repaired the 
chamber, which was in "great ruin and decay." Three 
years later Henry Croke was also admitted to the same 
chamber, and George Croke, brother of John, to an 
" under chamber." 

John Croke became successively Recorder of London 
(^595)1 Treasurer (1597), Speaker of the House of 
Commons (1601), Serjeant (1603), and a Justice of the 
King's Bench (1607). He it was who established the 
rule that the Speaker has only a casting vote when the 
numbers are equal. In a division on a Bill to enforce 
attendance at church, the Ayes were 106, the Noes 105. 
The minority claimed the Speaker's vote to make the 
numbers equal and thus defeat the measure. Against 
this attempt Sir Walter Raleigh raised his voice, and Sir 
John, upon consideration, acquiesced in Raleigh's view, 
that the Speaker has only a casting vote. The precedent 
thus established still prevails, and the Speaker has no 
right, except in committees of the whole House, to enter 
the voting lobby. 

In a speech before Elizabeth, Sn- John was speaking of 
the defeat of Essex's insurrection " bv the mightv arm of 

ml O If 

our dread and sacred Queen," when Elizabeth rebuked 



90 THE INNER AND MIDDLE TEMPLE 

him with the interruption, " No ; but by the mighty hand 
of God, Mr. Speaker." 

George Croke, created a serjeant in 1623, appointed a 
Justice of the Common Pleas in 1623, and promoted to 
the King's Bench three years later, is perhaps better 
known to lawyers as the author of The Reports, as 
they are still styled. He figured, however, no less largely 
than his brother John in the public view. He sat as 
one of the commissioners at the trial of the Countess of 
Somerset for the murder of Sir Thomas Overbury, and 
was one of the twelve judges who, in 1637, delivered 
judgment in the Exchequer Chamber in favour of Hamp- 
den, in the great case of the ship money tax, boldly 
denying the alleged claims of the King. Sir Edward 
Lyttelton, Treasurer of the Inner, appeared for the Crown 
as Solicitor-General. 

Sir George is said by Whitelocke to have at first 
favoured the King's cause, and to have prepared his 
argument accordingly, but to have been dissuaded by 
his wife, who said she "hoped he would do nothing 
against conscience, and that she would rather suffer any 
want or misery with him rather than that." This story 
is a good instance of the immense influence a strong and 
an upright woman may wield in public aff'airs. It is also 
related to Croke's credit that he refused to give the 
customary bribe of ^600 upon his creation as serjeant, 
an incident which shows up the vitiated public morality 
of the age. 

In 1622 Radcliffe's and Dyott's chambers in Fig Tree 
Court were ordered to be rebuilt by the Treasurer, Sir 
Thomas Coventry, at the expense of the society, and new 
tenants to be admitted upon payment of fines. Further 
alterations were commenced in 1628, by the removal of 
various old chambers and the erection of a new building 
next to the Hall, which necessitated the reconstruction of 
the Hall stairs and the offices of the House, and by the 



BUILDINGS IN THE INNER TEMPLE 91 

rebuilding of the western end of the court towards the 
Watergate. Evidence was given in the Chancery suit 
between the two societies in 1636 that the court was 
separated from the Middle Temple by a stone wall on the 
west side, and in the same year occurs an item in the 
accounts "for raising a part of a wall in Fig Tree Court 
by the Temple Lane," which shows that at this date there 
were still some open spaces in the lane. In 1584, how- 
ever, licence had been given to Mr. Coomes, of the Middle 
Temple, to build a study "within the stone wall in Fig 
Tree Court," for which he was to pay 10s. down or 6d. a 
year rent. At this period there was a door into Elm 
Court, which was supposed to be kept locked, though 
presumably only at night. In 1610 a new lock and key 
were ordered, and again in 1638 we find another new lock 
provided. 

Another occupant of Fig Tree Court and member of 
our House was Sir Thomas Wroth, M.P. for Bridgwater, 
one of the judges at the trial of Charles I., but who 
refused to take part in the actual proceedings. 

Against the assessment of ;^ioo a week upon the two 
societies of the Temple made by the Commissioners in 
1653, Sir Thomas made a long speech in the House, 
declaring "the long-robe men" to be as good swords- 
men as they were bookmen, a declaration which appealed 
successfully to Cromwell's military following. 

His nephews, John and Anthony, sons of Sir Peter 
Wroth, were in 1641 admitted to his chambers upon the 
payment of ;^ioo fine, but the elder being only sixteen 
and about to go to the University, and the younger only 
fourteen, it was ordered "that it be referred to the table 
to consider what allowance should be given of this great 
antiquity gained to these two gentlemen, and how the 
chamber should be disposed of till they came to use it." 

In Fig Tree Court, too, lived Edward Thurlow, the 
famous Lord Chancellor. He and William Cowper, the 



92 THE INNER AND MIDDLE TEMPLE 

poet, were pupils together of Mr. Chapman, an eminent 
solicitor in Lincoln's Inn. They were both called to the 
Bar by the Inner Temple in 1754. 

It was in the trial of Home Tooke for libel that 
Thurlow, then Attorney-General, prosecuted for the 




Fig TRE.E 

G)VRT- 

Crown, and used his utmost power in aggravation of 
the punishment, urging that the prisoner deserved 
nothing less than the pillory. After much vacillation, 
Thurlow had thrown in his lot with the Tories, and in 
the House he attacked the rights of juries in cases of 
libel, the liberty of the Press, defended the expulsion of 
Wilkes, and wished to treat the charters of the American 



BUILDINGS IN THE INNER TEMPLE 93 

Colonies as so much waste paper, thus powerfully helping 
to widen the breach which resulted in the loss of our 
American cousins. He is perhaps best remembered for 
his celebrated speech in the Lords, for, although often 
violent and rude, he could be dignified when it suited his 
purpose. Taunted with his plebeian birth by the Duke 
of Grafton, he replied, "I am amazed at his Grace's 
speech. The noble Duke cannot look before him, behind 
him, or on either side of him, without seeing some noble 
peer who owes his seat in this House to his successful 
exertions in the profession to which I belong. Does he 
not feel that it is as honourable to owe it to these as to 
being the accident of an accident?" His attitude to 
attorneys, and even to the Bar, was not always so 
dignified. On one occasion an attorney stated that a 
certain person named in an affidavit was dead. " How 
do I know that?" said Lord Thurlow. "My lord," 
replied the attorney, " I attended the funeral ; he was my 
client." "Why, sir," said the Chancellor, "did not you 
mention that at first? A great deal of time and trouble 
might have been saved. That he was your client is some 
evidence that he may be dead ; nothing was so likely to 
kill him." Another characteristic story is the following: 
One day, before the Court rose for the Long Vacation, 
Lord Thurlow left the Bench without making the then 
usual valedictory address to the Bar. He had nearly 
reached the door of his room, when a young counsel 
exclaimed to a friend in a loud whisper, " He might at 
least have said, ' Damn you ! ' " 

That the Chancellor could use strong language on 
occasion is attested by the following story : A clergyman 
desirous of a living went to the Bishop of London to ask 
him for an introduction to the Lord Chancellor Thurlow. 
The Bishop said, " I should be willing to give it, but an 
introduction from me would defeat the very end you have 
in view." However, the clergyman persisted in his 



94 THE INNER AND MIDDLE TEMPLE 

request, and the introduction was g-Iven. The Lord 
Chancellor received him with fury. "So that damned 
scoundrel, the Bishop of London, has g-iven you an 
introduction ; as it is he who has introduced you, you will 
certainly not get the living." " Well, so the Bishop said, 
my lord," said the clergyman. "Did the Bishop say so?" 
thundered Lord Thurlow. "Then he's a damned liar, 
and I'll prove him so : you s/mll have the living-." And 
the man got it. 

Thurlow never overcame his aversion to his old school- 
master, the Rev. Joseph Brett, and when the latter in 
after days claimed acquaintance with his distinguished 
pupil, Thurlow turned savagely upon him, exclaiming-, 
" I am not bound to recognise every scoundrel that 
recognises me." Strong language was, however, by no 
means a monopoly of Thurlow's. Speaking one day in 
the House of Lords upon the King's illness, he said, with 
tears in his eyes, "My debt of gratitude to His Majesty 
is ample for the many favours which he has conferred 
upon me, and when I forget it may God forget me." 
When Wilkes, who was sitting on the steps of the throne, 
heard this, he muttered in an audible whisper, " Forget 
you ! He'll see you damned first." 

Few would suspect this rugged lawyer of writing 
poetry. Who would expect an owl to sing like a thrush ? 
And yet in his So?i£- to May we find this great judge, 
who was said to look wiser than any man ever was, 
writing some light and graceful lines. 

Thurlow died in 1806, and was buried with great pomp 
in the south aisle of the Temple Church. His portrait 
hangs in the Parliament Chamber. 

Cowper at first occupied chambers in Pump Court, 
but in 1759 he removed to the Inner, where he pur- 
chased a set of chambers for ^^250, and here it was 
that he attempted suicide by hanging himself from the 
top of his doorway. Constitutionally of a morbid 



BUILDINGS IN THE INNER TEMPLE 95 

temperament, his mind became unhinged, partly perhaps 
from his unsuccessful love affair with his cousin Theodora, 
and partly from nervousness at the prospect of an ex- 
amination as to his fitness for the post of Clerk of the 
Journals of the House of Lords, a post which his cousin. 
Major Cowper, had secured for him. After buying- a 
bottle of laudanum, and wanting courage to swallow its 
contents, he went down to the river to drown himself, but 
turned back at the sight of a porter waiting on the bank. 
The day before the examination he made a more determined 
effort, and but for his garter breaking after a third attempt, 
he would have lost his life. 

Appointed a Commissioner in Bankruptcy, after his 
attempted suicide he resigned this post, feeling with 
morbid diffidence that his knowledge of law was unequal 
to the position. 

HARE COURT 

A member of our House who has left an indelible 
memory within the Temple precincts is Nicholas Hare, 
nephew of the better-known Sir Nicholas Hare, whom 
we find in the year 1520 in the occupation of Denny's 
chamber in the Outer Temple. The elder Hare was 
Reader, Bencher, and one of the three Governors of the 
House until his death. In the proceedings against 
Wolsey in 1530 he was retained for the defence, and in 
1540 was elected Speaker of the House of Commons 
which submissively passed all the measures Henry VHI. 
chose to present for its consideration, including the "whip 
with six strings " (whereby it was burning to deny tran- 
substantiation and hanging to express twice a preference 
for married priests), the suppression of the monasteries, 
and the divorce of Queen Anne. From this Parliament 
Sir Nicholas was absent part of the time in consequence 
of his imprisonment in the Tower for having advised Sir 
John Skelton how to evade the Statute of Uses, which 



96 THE INNER AND MIDDEE TEMPEE 

was declared to be an oflFence against the royal preroga- 
tive cognisable in the Star Chamber. 

He was, however, one of those who in the Parliament 
of 1553 opposed the Queen's marriage with Philip. Having 
made his peace with the Court, he was the same year 
appointed Master of the Rolls, and as such sat as one 
of the commissioners to try Sir Nicholas Throckmorton 
for his alleged participation in Wyatt's abortive rising. 

In his zeal for the Crown, or in revenge for the 







prisoner's retort, " I confess I did mislike the Queen's 
marriage with Spain, and then methought I had reason 
so to do, for I did learn the reasons of my dislike of you, 
Master Hare," Sir Nicholas used his utmost endeavours 
to secure Throckmorton's conviction. In spite, however, 
of Hare's refusal to allow one of Throckmorton's witnesses 
to be examined, and to permit the statute of Edward VI., 
which required two witnesses for high treason, to be read, 
the prisoner was acquitted. As was not unusual in those 
days, the jury was promptly committed to prison for 
delivering such a strange verdict ! Here they lay until 



BUILDINGS IN THE INNER TEMPLE 97 

they had submitted themselves to the Court and paid 
outrageous fines, ranging from threescore pounds to 
;^2,ooo apiece. 

One immediate result of this gross interference with 
the rights of juries was the conviction of Sir John 
Throckmorton upon the same evidence on which his 
brother, Sir Nicholas, had been acquitted. 

Although never Lord Chancellor, Sir Nicholas Hare 
was sole Commissioner of the Great Seal during the short 
period between the death of Bishop Gardiner and the 
appointment of Archbishop Heath. 

He died in Chancery Lane on October 31st, 1557, and 
was buried in the Temple Church, as a brass plate upon a 
large monument of grey marble testifies. 

Specially admitted in 1547, Nicholas Hare the younger, 
after holding various offices in the House, in which he 
was to play such a leading part, was in 1567 admitted to 
the chamber of James Ryvett, a Bencher, upon condition 
of rebuilding it, together with others. The reversion of 
these chambers was granted to his brothers, Ralph and 
Hugh, and here for generations we find members of the 
Hare family. These chambers formed the south side of 
Hare Court. In 1590, for instance, John Hare, brother 
of Nicholas, described as Chief Clerk of the Court of 
Wards and Liveries, petitioned the Bench for leave to 
pull down certain chambers in Fine Office Court, and to 
build there a room for his office and chambers for himself. 
The petition was granted. At this date Fine Office Court 
formed part of the present Hare Court. In 1619, the 
House being greatly in debt, a general levy was made 
upon the tenants, and in addition those having offices 
were charged extra. John Hare accordingly had to pay 
£S "'for his office of the Wards." 

In feudal times inquests of office were held concerning 
any matter entitling the Crown to the possession of lands 
or tenements, goods or chattels. So long as military 

H 



98 THE INNER AND MIDDLE TExMPLE 

tenures continued those inquiries were held upon the 
death of any of the King's tenants, in order to ascertain 
the extent and nature of his holding", who was his 
heir, and of what age, so that the King might have 
his marriage, wardship, relief, primer-seisi?i, or other 
advantages. 

It was to regulate these inquiries that the Court of 
Wards and Liveries was constituted by 32 Hen. VHI. 
c. 46, under the title of The Court of King's Wards. Its 
institution, however, failed to relieve the hardships of 
these oppressive tenures, and, after an attempt by 
James I. to get rid of the Court by agreement, it was 
abolished by Charles II., together with the tenures upon 
which it was founded. 

The Court stood in Old Palace Yard, between the back 
of Westminster Hall and the ancient building known 
as Edward the Confessor's Hall. It was connected by 
a passage with the Court of Chancery, so that the 
Chancellor might pass directly into the Court, either from 
his private room in Westminster Hall or from the 
Chancery Court. 

The Lord Treasurer presided, and was entitled to call to 
his assistance the two Chief Justices and the Chief Baron. 

An engraving by Vertue, after a painting by an 
unknown artist of the time of Queen Elizabeth, gives 
an exceedingly interesting view of the Court. Without 
the Bar stand two Serjeants in their robes and coifs. 
The one on the left wears a parti-coloured gown, which 
was worn for one year after taking that degree. Accord- 
ing to Vertue, Thomas Gent was created serjeant in 
1585, and this fact, together with the aged countenances 
of most of the officers of the Court, fixes the date of the 
painting about that time. 

In a list of Readers and Chief Barristers of the Inns 
of Court, Gent, a member of the Middle Temple, is 
described as " well practised." 



BUILDINGS IN THE INNER TEMPLE 99 

Taking" 1586 as the approximate date of the painting, 
the President or Master, as he was termed, would be 
William Cecil, Lord Burleigh, who is said to have pre- 
sided from the beginning of Elizabeth's reign till his 
death in 1598. Those on either side of him are robed as 
judges, and would be Sir Christopher Wray, L.C.J, of 
the Queen's Bench, and Sir Edmund Anderson, C.J. of 
the Common Pleas, the well-known Bencher of our 
House, and one of the most distinguished judges of his 
day. 

The second on the right, with his hat on and wearing 
a gold chain, is probably the Surveyor, who ranked next 
to the Master. Thomas Seckford held this office from 
1580 to 1589. In 1591 Paul Salmon, one of the Attorneys 
of the Court, was specially admitted to the Inner Temple. 
Opposite to him, in the dress of a lawyer and also 
capped, sits the Attorney of the Court, who was next in 
office to the Surveyor. This official, from 1572 to 1589, 
was Richard Kingsmill, of Lincoln's Inn, who had 
chambers in the old Gate-house in Chancery Lane. 
Next to the Surveyor is the Receiver-General, reading 
a scroll. This office, from 1583 to 1593, was filled by 
George Goring. Opposite to him, with an open book, 
may be the Auditor. William Tooke held this office from 
1551 till his death in 1588. The three at the bottom of 
the table answer to the number of Clerks. At the right- 
hand side, at the bottom of the table, stands the Usher, 
with a red rod tipped with silver in his hand. In 1578 
Marmaduke Servant held this office. Opposite to him 
stands the Messenger, wearing the Royal Arms crowned 
on his left side. Leonard Taylor served as Messenger 
for nearly thirty years from 1565. Without the Court 
on the right, with a scroll in his hand, stands the 
Queen's Serjeant, and opposite to him a Counsellor ; and 
beyond these other lawyers on each side. 

Sir Walter Pye, Treasurer of the Middle Temple in 



lOO THE INNER AND MIDDLE TEMPLE 

1626, was Attorney of the Court at that date. The 
Court of Common Pleas also had offices in the Temple. 
One of these was in 1792 in Hare Court, and the other in 
Elm Court. They were occupied by the Filager, an 
official of the Court, who filed the writs on which process 
was issued. In 1544 it was ordered that the " Philoser 
of London," i.e. the Filager of the Common Pleas, 
should pay to the Inn a yearly rent of 20^. for his office. 

In the north-west corner of Hare Court stood until 
quite recently " Dick's Coffee House," one of the oldest 
estabhshments of the kind in town. It was a great 
haunt of the young Templars, and in George II.'s time 
was kept by a Mrs. Yarrow and two fair daughters, who 
perhaps were as great an attraction to the habitues as 
the fragrant berry. Anyway, upon the production of 
The Coffee House, an adaptation from Rousseau, in 
which some innuendoes touching Mrs. Yarrow and her 
daughters were introduced, the young Templars proved 
their constancy by going in a body to the theatre and 
hissing the play off the boards. 

It was here that Cowper at the commencement of his 
mental derangement, reading a letter in a news-sheet, 
was prompted to go home and hang himself. 

The west and south sides of Hare Court were swept 
away in the disastrous fire of 1678. The Thames being 
frozen, the fire-engine was fed with beer from the brewery 
of John Crosse at the western end of the Hall, to the 
tune of ;^2o; "but the chief way of stopping the fire," 
says Luttrell, "was by blowing up houses, in doing 
which many were hurt, particularly the Earl of Faversham, 
whose skull was almost broken " by a falling beam, and 
who narrowly escaped being blown up with the records 
of the Fine Office. Amongst the earl's party rendering 
assistance were the Earl of Craven, the Duke of 
Monmouth, and several officers of the Guards. 

On May 31st, 1679, the order for rebuilding the west 



BUILDINGS IN THE INNER TEMPLE loi 

side of Hare Court, abutting on Middle Temple Lane, 
was confirmed. This building consisted of four staircases 
of three stories each, and was erected at the expense of 
the Treasurer, Sir Thomas Hanmer, and the several 
persons who, before the fire, had chambers there. 
Amongst these we find the name of "Mr. Jeff'eries." 

George Jeffreys, the grandson of a Welsh judge, was 
admitted a member of the Inn in 1663, and for five years 
lived the usual racketing life of a student in those days 
in an obscure chamber which I am unable to identify. 
There is probably no man, however vile, without some 
good qualities, and Jeffreys forms no exception to this 
rule. We are prepared to go even further than his 
biographer, Serjeant Woolrych, and admit that he was 
endowed with many good points, but we find it difficult, 
after making all possible allowances for the brutal vicious- 
ness of the age, to follow his latest panegyrist, Mr. H. B. 
Irving. It is impossible to forget the brutality of his 
conduct on the Bench, his cruelty and his hypocrisy. To 
plead that he was no worse than others of his day is a 
poor defence. That he was one of the foremost offenders 
of the ascendant party which represented all the most 
vicious in the nation is surely no justification, but a 
further discredit. His career was truly remarkable. 
Within three years of his call to the Bar, at the early 
age of twenty-three, he was appointed Common Serjeant 
of London, a post he owed to the assiduous court he paid 
to the City magnates, and of whose support he continued 
to avail himself until his promotion to the Recordership 
in 1678. With all his sins JeflVeys was at least generous, 
as the following incident shows. 

Having failed in his attempt to secure a lady of wealth 
as his wife, he generously married the go-between, a poor 
relation who was turned adrift by the lady's family. 
Upon her death in 1678 he was more successful in marry- 
ing money, which he did within three months of his first 



I02 THE INxNER AND MIDDLE TEMPLE 

wife's death. The lady, however, was brought to bed of 
a son much too early for a common calculator to say 
otherwise than that there had been a mistake somewhere. 
In a cause shortly after this interesting- event, a lady 
under cross-examination by Jeffreys was giving her 
evidence pretty sharply. <' Madam," cried Jeffreys, "you 
are very quick in your answers." "Quick as I am, Sir 
George," retorted the witness, "I am not so quick as 
your lady," and for once in his life the brazen Jeffreys was 
completely nonplussed. 

At the early age of thirty-five Jeffreys became Chief 
Justice of the King's Bench, and two years later Lord 
Chancellor — the reward for his disgusting and ignoble 
services on the Bloody Assize. It was on this occasion 
that Jeffreys forced the jury to convict Alice, the widow of 
John L'Isle, the regicide, for harbouring John Hicks, a 
dissenting preacher, after they had twice brought in a 
verdict of "not guilty." L'Isle had fled to Vevey, and 
subsequently settled at Lausanne, where in 1664, on his 
way to church, he was shot by an Irishman who was 
indignant at the respect shown to a regicide. 

Shortly after his elevation to the woolsack Jeffreys 
received a unique distinction at the hands of the Bench. 
Sir Godfrey Kneller was commissioned to paint his por- 
trait for the fee of ;^5o. This picture was hung in the 
Hall, but apparently after the Chancellor's disgrace re- 
moved to the chambers of a Mr. Holloway, when in 1693, 
at the request of Jeffreys' son, also a member of the Inn 
and occupying his father's chambers in Hare Court, it 
was handed over to him. It is now in the possession of 
Mr. Philip Yorke, of Errig Park, Wrexham. Three 
other portraits of Jeffreys are extant, and in all he is 
represented as an extremely handsome man. We look in 
vain for the repulsive and terrifying countenance and 
features distorted by drunken debauchery portrayed by a 
succession of historians and novelists. Jeffreys died in 



BUILDINGS IN THE INNER TEMPLE 103 

the Tower, and by a strange irony of fate his remains 
were at first laid next those of his victim, Monmouth. 

Jeffreys' chambers in Hare Court were at No. 3, on the 
second floor, which were only pulled down a few years 
ag"o and rebuilt, and correspond with the present No. 2, 
Hare Court. A fourth portrait by Sir Peter Lely, pre- 
sented to the Inn by Sir Harry Bodkin Poland, k.c, late 
Treasurer, represents him at a later period of his life, 
when his good looks had given way to his vicious life. 
Sir Harry Poland himself is inclined to doubt the authen- 
ticity of this painting. 

One of Jeffreys' companions on the Blood}^ Assize was 
Robert Wright — another disgrace to our House. He 
was described by Lord North as "a dunce and no lawyer, 
of no truth or honesty, and not worth a groat, having 
spent all his estate in debauchery." Upon his return 
from his bloody work in the West, he was raised to the 
King's Bench and presided at the trial of the seven 
bishops. In 1687 he was promoted as Chief Justice of 
the Common Pleas, and five days later supplanted Sir 
Edward Herbert, who had given an opinion adverse to 
the Crown, as Chief Justice of the King's Bench. 

Wright was one of the commissioners on the famous 
visitation of Magdalen College, Oxford. Impeached by 
William of Orange for judicial corruption, for taking 
bribes " to that degree of corruption as is a shame to any 
court of justice," he went into hiding near the Old Bailey, 
where he was discovered by Sir William Waller, and 
committed by the Lord Mayor, Sir John Chapman, to 
Newgate. Here he caught the gaol fever and died a few 
months afterwards. 

The pump referred to by Lamb stood on the north 
side of the court, and is the one mentioned by Daines 
Barrington as unlike most of the others, since it never 
failed in summer and was consequently the most frequented 
by the inhabitants of the Temple. 



I04 THE INNER AND MIDDLE TEMPLE 

The unfailing supply probably suggested the comparison 
in Garth's lines — 

"Sooner shall glow-worms vie with Titan's beams, 
Or Hare Court pump with Aganippe's streams," 

lines supposed by Barrington to contain a sly hit at the 
lawyers for conceiving that the Temple could produce 
poets, as suggested by Sir James Thornhill's famous 
painting of Pegasus creating the fountain of Hippocrene 
by striking his hoof upon the rock, emblematical of 
lawyers developing into poets. 

INNER TEMPLE LANE 

From the earliest times buildings had been erected on 
either side of the lane leading from the gate to the church 
porch. In 1657 some timber and rough-cast structures 
on the west side were replaced by more substantial brick 
buildings, which became known as Nos. i to 5, Inner 
Temple Lane. 

Upon the library stairs is to be seen a tablet com- 
memorating the foundation of this structure. It is dated 
1657, and bears a shield with the arms of the Inn and 
the initials " E. P.", standing for Edmund Prideaux, the 
Treasurer for that year. 

One of the first victims of that infamous scoundrel 
Titus Oates was Richard Langhorne, a member of the 
Inner Temple, who carried on his practice at chambers 
in Inner Temple Lane. He was a Papist, and in the 
excited religious frenzy of the moment the evidence 
of Oates and Bedloe, the rotten inconsistency of which 
the prisoner even then exposed, was greedily swallowed 
by both Court and jury. The trial took place at the old 
Sessions House in the Old Bailey on June 14th, 1679, 
before Scroggs, L.C.J, of the King's Bench ; North, 
L.C.J, of the Common Pleas; Pemberton, J. ; Atkins, J. ; 
Dolben, J., and the Recorder, Jeffreys. The counsel for 




DR. JOHNSONS STAIRCASE, NO. I INNEU TEMPLE LANE 



BUILDINGS IN THE INNER TEMPLE 105 

the Crown were Roger Belwood and Serjeant Cresswell 
Levinz. 

The suggestion by Langhorne that this was "a put-up 
job " was indignantly scouted by the Court. Such, how- 
ever, when too late it was eventually proved to be. 

Upon the verdict of guilty the five Jesuits convicted 
the previous day were brought in, and after a fulsome 
and hypocritical harangue the usual barbarous sentence 
was pronounced by Jeffreys. There was nothing illegal 
on the part of the judges in this trial, but their religious 
bias made them unfair and prejudiced, Scroggs going so 
far as to direct the jury that the evidence of Langhorne's 
witnesses, being Papists, had not the same weight as that 
of the witnesses for the Crown. 

Four days after the execution Sir George Wakeman, 
who had been indicted with Langhorne, was tried before 
Scroggs and North and acquitted by the jury, suspicion 
of Oates and his witnesses having set in. Langhorne's 
widow was consequently allowed by the Benchers to sell 
his chambers for ;^50, and subsequently received ;^25 out 
of the society's funds. 

In 1760 Dr. Johnson removed from Staple Inn to No. i. 
Inner Temple Lane, and three years later Boswell followed 
him to the bottom of the lane "in order to be nearer the 
object of his devotion." Boswell's chambers were in 
Farrar's Building, which stood on the site of the old 
chambers or town house of the Bishop of Ely, and 
which was last rebuilt in 1876. 

In 1786 Boswell was at length called to the Bar by the 
Benchers of the Inner Temple. 

It was, perhaps, at No. i that Johnson had the long 
discussion with a smart attorney, who was having rather 
the best of the argument, when he happened to say, 
"I don't understand you, sir." Upon which Johnson 
retorted, "Sir, I have found you an argument, but I am 
not obliged to find you an understanding." Although 



io6 THE INNER AND MIDDLE TEMPLE 

living in the very midst of the lawyers, Johnson does not 
seem to have concealed his bad opinion of them. Being" 
asked why he so hated lawyers, he replied, " I don't hate 
'em, sir ; neither do I hate frogs, but I don't like to have 
either hopping- about my chamber." 

For Thurlow, however, Johnson had the greatest 
admiration, considering him to be one of the ablest and 
most learned men of the day, an admiration reciprocated 
by the Chancellor, who frequently sought the advice of 
the great lexicographer. 

A description of these chambers is given by Ozias 
Humphrey, r.a., who visited Johnson here. "The day 
after I wrote my last letter to you," he writes, " I was 
introduced to Mr. Johnson by a friend. We passed 
through three very dirty rooms to a little one that looked 
like an old counting-house, where this great man sat at 
breakfast. The furniture of the room was a very large 
deal writing-desk, an old walnut-tree table, and five 
ragged chairs of four different sets. I was very much 
struck with Mr. Johnson's appearance, and could hardly 
help thinking him a madman for some time, as he sat 
raving over his breakfast like a lunatic. He is a very 
large man, and was dressed in a dirty brown coat and 
waistcoat, with breeches that were brown also (although 
they had been crimson), and an old black wig ; his shirt 
collar and sleeves were unbuttoned, his stockings well 
down about his feet, which had on them, by way of 
slippers, an old pair of shoes. He had not been up long 
when we called on him, which was near one o'clock. He 
seldom goes to bed before two in the morning ; and Mr. 
'Reynolds tells me he generally drinks tea about an hour 
after he has supper. We had been some time with him 
before he began to talk, but at length he began, and, 
faith, to some purpose ; everything he says is as correct as 
a second edition; 'tis impossible to argue with him, he is 
so sententious and so knowing." 



BUILDINGS IN THE INNER TEMPLE 107 

A very similar description of the Doctor's personal 
appearance is given by his faithful biographer on his first 
visit on May 24th, 1763. * 

" He received me very courteously," writes Boswell, 
"but it must be confessed that his apartment and 
furniture and morning dress were sufficiently uncouth. 
His brown suit of clothes looked very rusty ; he had on 
a Httle, old, shrivelled, unpowdered wig, which was too 
small for his head ; his shirt neck and knees of his 
breeches were loose ; his black worsted stockings ill 
drawn up, and he had a pair of unbuckled shoes by way 
of slippers. But all these slovenly peculiarities were 
forgotten the moment he began to talk. He told me that 
he generally went abroad at four in the afternoon, and 
seldom came home till two in the morning. I took the 
Hberty to ask if he did not think it wrong to live thus, 
and not make more of his great talents. He owned it 
was a bad habit." 

His library, Boswell tells us, was contained in two 
garrets over his chambers, where Lintot, son of the 
celebrated bookseller, formerly had his warehouse. Here 
he used to retire when he did not wish to be disturbed. 
With characteristic honesty Johnson hated conventional 
lies, and safe in his den upstairs, his servant could 
truthfully say he was not "at home." "I found," says 
Boswell, "a number of good books, but very dusty and 
in great confusion. The floor was strewn with manuscript 
leaves in Johnson's own handwriting, which I beheld with 
a degree of veneration, supposing they might perhaps 
contain portions of the Rambler or of Rasselas. I 
observed an apparatus for chemical experiments, of which 
Johnson was all his life fond. The place seemed to be 
very favourable for retirement and meditation." 

It was whilst Dr. Johnson lived in this house that the 
association which afterwards became so famous as the 
Literary Club was formed. Its original members were 



io8 THE INNER AND MIDDLE TEMPLE 

Joshua Reynolds, Johnson, Goldsmith, Burke, Dr. Nugent, 
Langton, Topham Beauclerk, Chamier, and Hawkins. 
It was during this period also that the adventure described 
by Boswell occurred, when the accomplished but dissipated 
Beauclerk, returning one night from supper with Langton, 
roused up the worthy Doctor at three in the morning, and 
challenged him to a ramble. "What, is it you, ye dogs?" 
he cried. "Then, faith, I'll have a frisk with you!" 
And so out they sallied, first to Covent Garden, and then 
to Billingsgate, and had what Washington Irving, in 
allusion to this adventure, called " a mad-cap freak." 

Other notable inmates of these buildings were Charles 
Lamb and Serjeant Ballantine, that master of the art of 
a type of cross-examination now happily obsolete, both 
in No. 4, and James Shaw Willes, a member of the 
Middle Temple, at No. 3. Sir James was tubman in the 
Court of Exchequer from 185 1 until his elevation to the 
Bench four years later as a judge of the Court of Common 
Pleas. 

The offices of tubman and postman of the Exchequer 
are now no longer in existence, and their very origin is 
absolutely lost. They were in the gift of the chief Baron, 
and were originally bestowed upon two of the most 
experienced barristers attending the Court. These occu- 
pied two enclosed seats at either end of the front row 
of the Outer Bar. The postman in all Common Law 
business had pre-audience even over the Attorney-General, 
and the tubman had a similar privilege in all Equity 
business. 

Willes was the first judge to live out of town, and 
consequently the Court of Common Pleas could not be 
formed till 10.30, instead of 10 as formerly. The other 
Courts at Westminster followed suit, and when law and 
equity were fused, the Common Law, contrary to all 
precedent, prevailed, and now all Courts sit at 10.30. 

Sir James was one of the promoters of the Inns of 



BUILDINGS IN THE INNER TEMPLE 109 

Court Volunteer Corps formed in 1859, and in whose 
ranks he served. From overwork he became a victim 
to insomnia, and was found with a revolver by his side, 
and the blood trickling from a wound in his heart— a sad 
termination to a life nobly spent. 

These old building's, which had fallen into a ruinous 
condition, were in 1857 pulled down, and replaced by the 
present unsightly Dr. Johnson's Buildings, so named after 
their most celebrated inmate. 

At No. 3 the present Solicitor-General, Sir Edward 
Carson, has chambers. Sir Edward has had a remark- 
ably rapid career in this country. His powers of cross- 
examination are deservedly held in respect. 

CHURCHYARD COURT 

This court together with its name has long since 
vanished. The first mention in our records occurs in 
the year 161 2. It appears to have consisted of a row of 
chambers running from the church porch, upon which the 
south end abutted, almost up to the present Goldsmith 
Building, and stood upon the site of the present church- 
yard, thus blocking the view of the west end of the 
church. Indeed, these chambers extended east upon the 
churchyard, abutting upon the north side of the Round, 
and fronting the site of Goldsmith Building. This 
block was separated from the buildings fronting the lane 
by a narrow passage called in Ogilby's Plan Pissing 
Alley. 

These buildings were rebuilt in 1717, the foundation 
of which is recorded by a tablet erected in that year by 
the Treasurer of the Inner Temple, John HoUoway. 
This tablet is now on the library stairs. 

Both blocks were removed in 1828. 

The court appears originally to have extended to the 
north end of the cloisters, and to have included some 
shops or chambers erected against the south-west side 



no THE INNER AND MIDDLE TEMPLE 

of the Round. This part was in 1700 cut off by a house 

built right across the lane and over the church porch 

itself, thus creating another small court, which became 

known as Temple Court. This court is shown in the 

illustration at page 49, the house on the left being the 

old Farrar's Building, erected on the site of the Bishop 

of Ely's town house. 

Churchyard Court South, which is given as an address 

in the early La7v Lists, was probably the block of buildings 

first described as fronting the lane in order to distinguish 

them from the other block further east. Or possibly the 

name may have been used as an alternative for Temple 

Court. 

PARSON'S COURT 

The very memory of Parson's Court is half-forgotten, 
and even its site undetermined. It is described as lying 
at the east end of the church, but it may possibly have 
consisted of the row of houses shown in Ogilby's Plan to 
the north of the churchyard, covering the pavement where 
Goldsmith now lies. 

Almost the earliest mention of this court appears in a 
MS. in the possession of the Inner Temple of about the 
year 1638, describing certain chambers in Parson's Court 
as belonging to the Master of the Temple, and let by him 
at a rental of ^36 11^. 4^. In the same MS. certain 
chambers in the churchyard are also described as belong- 
ing to the Master, and let by him at a rental of ;£iS. 

Prior to the grant of James I. to the two societies in 
1608 there appears to have been a passage from Fleet 
, Street, by which access was gained to the churchyard. 
This became a resort of outlaws and disorderly persons, 
who here sought sanctuary from the sheriffs and disturbed 
the seclusion of the Temple by their brawls. Here also 
clothes were washed and dried, which added to the un- 
sightly and unsavoury character of a spot supposed to be 
consecrated to the dead. The Benchers of the two 



BUILDINGS IN THE INNER TEMPLE in 

societies accordingfly, in 1609, took counsel together and 
walled up the passage, put a stop to the washing and 
drying of clothes, and pulled down a shed erected against 
the north wall of the church by Middleton, the clerk. 
Amongst other improvements, they purchased a lanthorn 
to be hung at the church door going into Parson's Court. 
This would place Parson's Court in the east end of the 
churchyard, between the Master's house and the present 
Goldsmith Building, as I have suggested. 

In the quarrel between Dr. Micklethwaite, the Master 
of the Temple, and the two societies, the latter contended 
that Parson's Buildings were the property of the societies, 
and did not belong to the Master. In the appeal to the 
King in 1638, the Master was held to be entitled to twenty 
chambers in Parson's Court and in the churchyard. He 
was, however, ordered to deliver them up to the two 
houses upon receipt for them and for his tithes and 
oblations of ^200 every term. 

In 1657 new buildings were erected by the Society of 
the Inner Temple in Parson's Court at a cost of ;^i,45o. 
The fines for admissions to these chambers varied from 
;^i20 for a first-floor chamber to jQdo for one on the 
third floor. 

If these buildings stood where I have indicated, they 
all perished in the Great Fire. 

These are probably the brick buildings referred to by 
Dugdale as erected in 1662 in Parson's Court near the 
east end of the church. 

THE INNER TEMPLE GATEWAY 

No. 17, Fleet Street, or the Inner Temple Gate-house 
as it is sometimes called, was rebuilt by leave of the 
Society of the Inner Temple by one Bennett, in 161 o. 
In consideration of his expenditure, Bennett was allowed 
to rebuild his house, then known as the "Prince's Arms," 
and to extend it "over and beside the gateway and the 



112 THE INNER AND MIDDLE TEMPLE 

lane." That there was a gateway here previously is clear 
from the licence granted to Bennett, set forth in the Inner 
Temple Records the loth of June, 1610, whereby in con- 
sideration of making new gates Bennett was "allowed 
the old gates." In the plan published by Agas, 1563, 
an entrance is shown, without any gates, nearly opposite 
Chancery Lane. 

Bennett was a King's Sergeant-at-Arms, and had, so 
far as is known, no connection with the law. His will 
was proved on August loth, 163 1, but contains no mention 
of No. 17, Fleet Street, which may be explained by the 
fact that he had in the meantime parted with the property. 

In this house John Bennett perhaps kept his prisoners 
in confinement. The house is now popularly known, 
from the inscription on the front, as the palace of 
Henry VIII. and Cardinal Wolsey. The suggestion 
that the present building was occupied by either Henry 
or the Cardinal is thus entirely without foundation. 
Cardinal Wolsey's palace or town house was, we know, 
in Chancery Lane, but it is quite possible, and indeed 
probable, that the original house was occupied by royalty. 
The name of the "Prince's Arms," by which it was known 
prior to the rebuilding by Bennett, is some evidence, and 
the occupation by the Prince of Wales of the large room 
on the first floor as his Council Chamber for the Duchy of 
Cornwall is very strong evidence of its close association 
with the Court. This chamber, now used as a barber's 
room, is twenty-three feet in length by twenty feet in 
breadth, extending along the whole front of the house. 
Its chief claim to attention, however, is its elaborately 
decorated plaster ceiling, said to be the finest of its kind 
in situ in London. The ribs are richly ornamented and 
the panels and spaces filled in with emblems, conventional 
foliage, armorial bearings and devices in high relief, 
whilst in the centre, enclosed by a star-shaped border, 
are the Prince of Wales' feathers, with the motto, " Ich 



BUILDINGS IN THE INNER TEMPLE ii 



J 



dien," on a scroll beneath, arid the initials " P. H.", stand- 
ing for Prince Henry, eldest son of James I. The whole 
is now elaborately coloured, but the delicacy of the original 
tracery has been much damaged by frequent coats of 
paint. That this room was the Prince's Council Chamber 
has been placed beyond dispute by documentary evidence. 
At the Record Office several State Papers have been 
found referring to this house between the years 1618 and 
1641. One is headed "The Prince's Council Chamber in 
Fleet Street," and another refers to "a house in Fleet 
Street where the King's Commissioners for his revenue 
when he was Prince of Wales usually met." This is 
dated 1635, and also shows that Charles I., when Prince 
of Wales, or at any rate when Duke of Cornwall, attended 
here. 

The walls of the chamber are panelled from floor to 
ceiling, and that portion of the panelling which is sur- 
mounted by a frieze is undoubtedly early Jacobean. The 
upper floors are reached by a wide staircase protected by 
a heavy oak balustrade, which appears to be of a later 
period, although certainly not later than the reign of 
George I. This staircase is still /// si'/n, and it is satis- 
factory to find that in rebuilding the back premises it has 
been allowed to remain. 

The design of the house is generally attributed to 
Inigo Jones. As he was in 1610 surveyor-general to 
Prince Henry, and as the Prince's arms and initials 
appear on the ceiling of the new Council Chamber, 
which, I take it, only succeeded an older one, it is more 
than probable that Jones was the architect, in spite of the 
fact that the house was built for John Bennett. With 
the Civil War its use by the Crown probably ceased 
entirely, and we next hear of it in 1693 as the Fountain 
Tavern, carried on by one Edward Dixon, who had 
serious disputes with the Benchers of the Inn about his 
"lights" in the lane. Dixon was obliged to capitulate, 
I 



114 THE INNER AND MIDDLE TEMPLE 

and the Inn has since maintained its rights on the question 
of "ancient lig"hts." 

Here in 1709 the Society of Antiquaries, or rather the 
original founders, used to meet until the removal of their 
quarters to the "Mitre," near Serjeants' Inn, about the 
year 1739. The house appears to have continued as a 
tavern until 1795, when Mrs. Clarke, widow of a surgeon 
in Chancery Lane, removed here with her waxwork 
figures from No. 189 over the way, afterwards occupied 
by Praed's Bank. This collection of figures had been 
purchased by Mr. Clarke from Mrs. Salmon, the original 
proprietor, in 1760, and are thus described in a handbill : 
"140 figures as big as life, all made b}' Mrs, Salmon, who 
sells all sorts of moulds and glass eyes and teaches the 
full art." Mrs. Salmon died at the great age of ninety, 
her exhibition, the forerunner of Madame Tussaud's, 
being on view in the reign of Queen Anne at "The 
Golden Salmon " in St. Martin's, near Aldersgate. 

During this period, from entries in the Inner Temple 
Records, the tenancy of the house seems to have been 
divided, and the business of the tavern to have been 
carried on simultaneously. By 1842 Tom Skelton, the 
hairdresser, had become the occupier, and six years later 
this business was carried on by the firm of Honey and 
Skelton. The present occupier, who succeeded to the 
business, is Mr. Carter, to whom I am indebted for the 
permission to reproduce the accompanying illustration of 
the ceiling of the Council Chamber. 

Many writers of weight have identified No. 17 with 
Nando's Coffee House. Mr. Philip Norman, to whom I 
am indebted for some information relating to this interest- 
ing building, has given this theory Its quietus. In his 
paper entitled No. 77, Fleet Street, he quotes the 
following passage from Hughson's History of London 
(1807), which appears to settle the question: — 

"We are told," he says, "that James Farr, a barber, 



BUILDINGS IN THE INNER TEMPLE 115 

who kept the coffee-house, now the ' Rainbow,' or 
Nando's Coffee House, by the Inner Temple Gate, one 
of the first in Eng-land, was in the year 1667 presented by 
the inquest of St. Dunstan's in the West, for making and 
selling" a sort of liquor called coffee, as a great nuisance 
and prejudice to the neighbourhood." This opposition to 
the consumption of the fragrant berry will be readily 
appreciated by all friends of "the Trade." 

After all these vicissitudes of fortune, No. 17 has been 
purchased by the London County Council from Mr. 
Sotheby, the freeholder, for ;^20,ooo, to be restored as 
far as possible to its original state. The present front is, 
fortunately, only a false one, and much of the original 
carved woodwork lies behind. The Council Chamber is 
to share in this restoration and to be opened to the public. 
In rebuilding the back, great taste has been shown. 

By other authorities the "Rainbow" is said to have 
been one of the earliest coffee-houses in town, and to have 
started business in 1679. And if the above quotation, 
identifying it with Nando's, can be relied upon, it is 
certainly the oldest. Although the entrance is at No. 15, 
its windows look out into the lane. It was at Nando's 
that Thurlow, the future Chancellor, got his first brief in 
the famous Douglas case, through conversation with the 
solicitor who had the conduct of it. The " Rainbow" is 
still a well-known legal resort. At No. 16, west of the 
gateway, with the sign of the "Pope's Head," was the 
shop of Bernard Lintot, the publisher of Pope's Homer, 
and the rival of Tonson, the great publisher of Queen 
Anne's reign, and afterwards of Jacob Robinson, book- 
seller and publisher, with whom lodged Edmund Burke, 
the future statesman, when eating his dinners as a 
student of the Middle Temple. Burke commenced to 
keep regular terms in 1750. Upon its site has arisen 
another coffee-house, where young Templars delight to 
congregate to play chess or dominoes over the fragrant 
cup which invigorates without intoxication. 



ii6 THE INNER AND MIDDLE TEMPLE 



THE INNER TEMPLE PLATE 

Like so many of the colleges at Oxford and Cambridge, 
the Societies of the Inns of Court can boast of a goodly- 
show of plate, a considerable amount of which has sur- 
vived the Civil Wars, In the possession of interesting 
pieces of ancient date the Society of the Inner Temple is 
well endowed. The first reference in the records relating 
to the plate of the Inn occurs in 1534, when the Treasurer 
acknowledges the receipt of a cup presented by Master 
Sutton. Two years later reference is made to a silver- 
gilt cup then in the hands of the late Treasurer's executors, 
and in 1539 it was agreed "that a standynge pote of 
sylver which ys Master Sacviles, and also the stondynge 
cup of sylver shalbe put yn toe the cover yn the Parlya- 
ment howse." From the Privy Council Registers, under 
date June 17th, 1552, we learn that Sir Robert Bowes, 
Master of the Rolls, was directed to deliver to the 
Treasurer, Sir John Baker, for the use of the Inner 
Temple, "a cuppe of sylver and gilt and graven with a 
cover." The next entry in our records, under date May 
i6th, 1563, appears to refer to the standing silver-gilt cup 
shaped like a melon, with a cover, and with feet formed 
of the tendrils of the melon. The hall-mark of this 
beautiful piece is pronounced by Mr, Cripps to be of the 
year 1563. It is now one of the treasured possessions of 
the House. From an inventory made in February, 1594, 
there were at that date "eight silver bowls and four silver 
salts, with a cover for a trencher salt, and two dozen of 
silver spoons." 

By his will, proved in 1597, Nicholas Hare bequeathed 
three silver-gilt salt-cellars and a trencher salt-cellar to 
the Inn for the use of the Bench table. The large trencher 
salt with cover was used to denote the dividing line 
between the upper and lower members of the household 
in olden times. 



BUILDINGS IN THE INNER TEMPLE ii; 

During the earlier years of the seventeenth century 
numerous additions were made to the plate-chest. In 
1606 two high silver candlesticks were purchased from 
Francis Glandvylle, goldsmith, and the following year 
five silver bowls and four spoons. From Thomas Turner 
a new silver salt-cellar was bought in the year 1610, and 
in 1619 six slip silver spoons were purchased at a cost 
of £2 8^. 

In 1628 two wine bowls were purchased from T. Turner, 
but in 1643-4 the "house plate" was stolen, and ;^36 
\2s. 6d. expended in prosecuting the offenders — with what 
result is unknown. 

From the accounts for the year 1699- 1700 we learn 
that payment for two silver cups was made to Hoare, the 
goldsmith, the predecessor of the modern banking-house ; 
and from an inventory of goods in the Buttery, dated 
January ist, 1703, the Inn appears to have then possessed 
one basin and ewer, one gilt cup with cover (presumably 
the melon cup), five large salts, ten great cups, twelve 
little cups, and twenty-three spoons. 

In the accounts for 1707-8 is a payment of £2^^ 15^. 
for twelve silver spoons and a silver cup and cover. 

Since this date numerous additions have been made, 
and in spite of thefts and mysterious losses the side- 
board behind the Bench table makes a magnificent 
display on Grand Night. 

Amongst these additions attention must be called to 
a very beautiful silver-gilt nef, or model of a man-of- 
war, with the castellated poop and forecastle of the 
period. 



CHAPTER III 
HISTORICAL SKETCH OF THE INNER TEMPLE 

IT is not easy to give any account of the domestic 
history of the Inn prior to the year 1505. Whatever 
records existed dealing with the occupation of the Temple 
by the lawyers up to 1381 were entirely destroyed by the 
peasant followers of Wat the Tyler, who, ascribing all 
their ills to the chicanery of the lawyers, burned their 
chambers, together with their papers, in much the same 
spirit as the French Jacquerie destroyed the title-deeds 
of their seigneurs. 

That other records existed from the period of this 
disaster to the year 1505, when the present registers 
commence, is shown by the order in 1507 that a con- 
venient chest be made and set in the Parliament House 
with divers locks for the reception of "all the olde 
presidentes, roullis and other wrytynges perteyning unto 
the company." This chest, with all its contents, 

118 



HISTORICAL SKETCH 119 

mysteriously disappeared ; and as the registers of the 
Middle Temple commence about the same date as those 
of the Inner, it is probable that, kept in the hutches of 
the Temple Church as they were up to the middle of the 
seventeenth century, they both suffered a common fate. 

It is now tolerably certain that Geoffrey Chaucer, the 
poet, was a Fellow of our House. 

In his Canterbtiry Tales he gives us a sketch of the 
Temple manciple, or chief cook, which, although often 
quoted, must not be omitted here. 

"A gentil manciple was there of [a] the Temple 
Of whom achatours mig-hten take ensample, 
For to ben wise in bying of vitiille ; 
For, whether that he paid or toke by taille, 
Algate he waited so in his achate 
That he was aye before in good estate. 
Now is not that of God a full fayre grace 
That swiche a lewid mannes wit shall face 
The wisdom of an hepe of lerned men ? 

"Of maisters had he more than thries ten 
That were of law expert and curious ; 
Of which there were a dosein in that hous 
Worthy to ben stewardes of leat and land 
Of any lord that is in Engleland ; 
To maken him live by his propre good 
In honour deltelcs ; but if were wood, 
Or live as scarsly as iiim list desire, 
And able for to helpen all a shire, 
In any cos that mighte fallen or happe 
And yet this manciple sett ' his aller cappe.' " 

It was upon the supposition that originally only one 
Inn existed in the Temple, and that the Middle Temple 
constituted such Inn, thai ihc latter society claimed as 
its members such men as Chaucer and Gower. From 
the fact that Chaticer himself in his writings referred 
only to tlic Temple (although in most of the MSS. it is 
"a Temple"), it was inferred that only one Inn existed 



120 THE INNER AND MIDDLE TEMPLE 

within the precincts of the Temple. But, according to 
tradition, Chaucer was a member of the Inner, and the 
tradition was supported by a passage from the second 
edition of Speght's Works of Chancer, published in 1574, 
to which an introduction, written in 1597 by Francis 
Beaumont, a Justice of the Common Pleas and father 
of the poet, was added in 1602, which reads as 
follows : — 

"About the latter end of K. Richard's the Second's 
dales he florished in Fraunce, and got himself great 
commendation there by his diligent exercise in learning. 
After his return home he frequented the Court at London 
and the CoUedges of the Lawiers, which there interpret 
the lawes of the land, and among them he had a familiar 
friend called John Gower. It seemeth that Chaucer was 
of the Inner Temple, for not many years since Master 
Buckley did see a Record in the same house, where 
Geffrey Chaucer was fined two shillings for beating a 
Franciscan friar in Fleet street." 

From the Records of the Inner Temple it now appears 
that Master Buckley, or " Bulkeley," was in 1564 the 
chief butler of the House, and as such librarian. 

In 1572 William Buckley, late chief butler, was 
admitted a Fellow of the House without any payment. 
That the old records existed is clear, as we have seen 
from the order of 1507 relating to the chest. To this 
Buckley would have access, and his identification as a 
librarian and a Fellow of the society is sufficient circum- 
stantial evidence to set this dispute at rest. It also 
proves the existence of a separate society of the Inner 
Temple at least as early as the reign of Richard II. 

When Chaucer was appointed ambassador to Bernard 
Visconti, Lord of Milan, he nominated John Gower, one 
of his trustees, to appear for him in the Courts during his 
absence. Gower may well have been a member of the 
Middle Temple. It is almost certain that he was a 
lawyer. 



HISTORICAL SKETCH 121 

The Paston Letters, which commence in the year 142 1, 
and in which the terms " I'ostel du Templebar en la 
cite de Londres," "The Inner Temple," and "The Inner 
In in the Temple att London," occur indifferently, establish 
the fact that at this date at any rate the division between 
the two societies had taken place, and the inference from 
this indifferent use may be fairly drawn that no reliance 
can be placed upon the phrase "The Temple," if such 
was really Chaucer's. 

John Paston, the writer and recipient of this corre- 
spondence, had chambers in the Inner Temple, where he 
carried on his study of the law. He was the son of 
WiUiam Paston, a Justice of the Common Pleas, who 
died in 1444. It is not known to which Inn he belonged, 
but as he had inherited his property in Norfolk from the 
Chaucer family, and as his son was a Fellow of our 
House, the probabilities are that he also was a member 
of the Inner Temple. 

About this time, too, in the year 1430, according- to 
tradition, took place the celebrated scene immortalised 
by Shakespeare, which is said to have been the origin 
of the Wars of the Roses. In the Inner Temple Hall 
met Richard, Duke of York, and the Earls of Somerset, 
Suffolk, and Warwick. The dispute arose out of "the 
putting of a case," as the custom then was, for Shake- 
speare makes Richard say — 

"Great lords and gentlemen, what means this silence? 
Date no man answer in a case of truth?" 

This silence was soon broken, and high words passed, 
when on Suffolk's suggestion they adjourned into the 
garden. 

"Suffolk: Within I he Temple Hall we were too loud ; 
The sjardcn here is more convenient. 



122 THE INNER AND MIDDLE TEMPLE 

Plant agenet : Let him that is a true-born gentleman, 

And stands upon the honour of his birth, 
If he supposes that I have pleaded truth, 
From off this briar pluck a white rose with me. 
Somerset : Let him that is no coward nor no flatterer, 
But dare maintain the party of the truth. 
Pluck a red rose from off this thorn with me. 



Plantagenet : Hath not thy rose a canker, Somerset? 
Somerset: Hath not thy rose a thorn, Plantagenet? 

• • • • • 

Warwick: This brawl to-day, 

Grown to this faction in the Temple garden, 
Shall send, between the red rose and the white, 
A thousand souls to death and deadly night." 

The Temple Gardens were for centuries famous for their 
red and white roses, the Old Provence, the Cabbage, 
and the Maiden's Blush. 

According to the poet, Richard was an inmate of the 
Temple, for when Mortimer, dying in the Tower, asks for 
him, he is told by the keeper that — 

" Richard Plantagenet, my lord, will come ; 
We sent unto the Temple to his chamber." 

In the seventh year of Edward IV. each Inn was 
ordered to supply four men-at-arms for the King's guard 
at the tournament held in Smithfield, when Anthony 
Wydeville, Lord de Scales, met in combat the bastard 
son of the Duke of Burgundy. We learn from the Black 
Books of Lincoln's Inn that this command met with little 
favour from the lawyers, for "it was hastily agreed to 
by both Temples against our wish, but after agreed to 
by us." 

A distinguished member of our House at this period 
was Sir Thomas Lyttelton, the author of the famous 
treatise on Tenures, who became a Justice of the 
Common Pleas in 1466, and from whom a long line of 



HISTORICAL SKETCH 123 

famous lawyers trace descent, as well as no less than 
three noble families whose names are to be found in 
Burke's Peerage. His Reader's shield hangs in the Hall, 

Although specially favoured by Henry VH., the 
Templars did not recover sufficient confidence to set 
their houses in order until the latter part of his reign. 
Naturally anxious to strengthen his position, Henry 
showed special attention to the lawyers. He visited 
their Inns, was present at the Serjeants' feasts, and 
conferred on the two Chief Justices and the Chief Baron 
the privilege of wearing the collar of " SS " during their 
occupancy of the Bench. 

The first recorded creation of Serjeants from our House, 
when Humfray Coningsby and Thomas Frewyk were 
called to that degree, took place in November, 1496. 
The feast was held at Ely House. At the second creation 
in 1503 the festival was at Lambeth Palace, and on both 
occasions the King and his consort were present. 

The precedent set by Edward IV. was followed and 
further developed by Henry VIII., for upon his accession 
each member of our House was assessed \(Sd. for the 
cost of stands at the Westminster tournament, in which 
the lawyers themselves were obliged to take part. 

The first Serjeants' feast recorded in our registers took 
place in the year 1521, when William Rudhall, John 
Poorte, and William Shelley were created serjeants by 
the King's express wish. They took leave of the society 
after vespers on June 28th, and 

"Then those three serjeants proceeded to the house of 
the Bishop of Ely in Holbourne, the society following 
from the seniors to the juniors to the number of almost 
one hundred and sixty, and so they came to a certain 
parlour on the north side of the Hall, where the rest of 
the serjeants of the other Inns had assembled. . . . And 
after all the serjeants had come into the hall there and 
sat at the chief table and the elders of the Inn with them. 



124 THE INNER AND MIDDLE TEMPLE 

they had spices and many comfits with wine of every sort. 
And on Saturday they remained there, and on Sunday the 
Chief Justice gave them a goodly exhortation in the great 
chamber at the end of the Hall, and then he told them 
their pleas before delivered by the chief prothonotaries." 

Upon his departure from our House Rudhall left a 
silver spoon for the Bench table in remembrance. The 
great hall of the Palace was a magnificent Gothic chamber, 
with ornamental timber roof and carved oak screen. 
One of the most memorable of these feasts was that 
given in 1531, upon the creation of eleven Serjeants, 
when Henry and Catherine were both present, and the 
menu of which is duly set forth by Stow with great 
particularity. The festivities lasted five days, and the 
amount of food and drink consumed was prodigious. 

But no less then than now royalty was exclusive. 
Although the Court was said to dine with the serjeants, 
the former sat in one chamber, and the latter with their 
wives in another. In the great hall itself were the Lord 
Mayor and Aldermen, the Justices and the Barons of the 
Exchequer, the Master of the Rolls, the Masters in 
Chancery, and citizens of distinction. 

In this reign, as we have seen, building was commenced 
upon a larger scale. A stricter discipline over members 
of the House was enforced, gambling was forbidden, and 
sumptuary regulations were passed. In 1523 occurs the 
first reference to the players, for whom a payment of 20s. 
is allowed. 

At this period, too, "the great plague of sweating 
sickness " — that scourge of mediaeval cities — made its 
appearance in the Inn, when the deaths of students and 
officers of the House on several occasions caused the 
dispersal of its members. 

Cardinal Wolsey is connected with our House in the 
person of William Fitz- William, treasurer and chamber- 
lain of the great Chancellor. He was a member of the 



HISTORICAL SKETCH 125 

King's Council, and was admitted to our House at the 
instance of Sir John Baker, afterwards Speaker of the 
House of Commons. After his master's fall Fitz-William 
entertained him at his manor of Milton in Northampton- 
shire. Sir John was also Recorder of London and 
Attorney-General, and was elected Treasurer of the Inn 

in 1533- 

Whilst Wolsey, however, was still Chancellor, the 

Benchers of the Inns of Court and the Principals of the 

Inns of Chancery were placed in the ig"nominious position 

of standing- as defendants at the bar of the Star Chamber, 

when they were lectured by the Cardinal, and cautioned 

not to suffer their gentlemen students in the future to be 

out of their houses after six o'clock in the evening without 

very great and necessary causes, nor to allow them to 

carry any manner of weapons. 

The first member of our House to whom the Great Seal 
was entrusted was Thomas Audley. He became Lord 
Keeper on May 30th, 1532, and afterwards Lord Chancellor. 
During his term of office momentous events happened. 
To satisfy the conscience, forsooth, of our much-married 
King, Catherine of Aragon was divorced after twenty 
years of faithful wifehood. Anne Boleyn and Catherine 
Howard, her successors, perished on the scaffold. F'isher 
and More suffered a similar fate rather than admit the 
political supremacy of the State over the Church, and 
the wealth of the monasteries fell into the hands of the 
sycophants of the Court. 

In this reign, too, a member of our House first held the 
office of Master of the Rolls. This was John Beaumont, 
Treasurer in 1547. Appointed to the Rolls three years 
later, he soon brought disgrace upon the society. He 
was imprisoned for forging a deed in a suit heard before 
him, purporting to be executed by Charles Brandon, 
Duke of SufTolk. He was also charged with peculations 
to a large amount in his office. 



126 THE INNER AND MIDDLE TEMPLE 

During this reign of Edward VI. the membership of 
the House had so increased that a fourth butler was 
engaged, "on account of the great multitude of the 
company," and in the interests of morality it was ordered 
"that no woman shall have recourse to the gentlemen's 
chambers for any cause, except it be as suitors to 
* experyencors ' in term time, openly without evil suspect, 
upon pain of forfeiture of 3^-, 4^'. " for each offence. 

Although the waves of the Reformation passed lightly 
over the heads of the Templars, owing to their acquies- 
cence in the various creeds as they in turn gained the 
ascendant, our House furnished in due course its quota 
to "the noble army of martyrs." John Bradford, who 
was present as paymaster at the siege of Montreuil in 
1544, was three years later admitted as a member. Two 
years afterwards he took Holy Orders, and became 
Chaplain-in-Ordinary to Edward VL He perished in the 
fires at Smithfield in July, 1555. 

Another zealous reformer, a member of our House, 
was Humphrey Burton, who suffered persecution at the 
hands of Mary, and died from excess of joy on hearing 
Shrewsbury bells ring in the accession of Elizabeth. 

With the reformed religion in the ascendant, it was 
only natural that some of our House should suffer for 
their old faith. In 1581 Nicholas Roscarrock was com- 
mitted to the Tower as a "Popish recusant," where he 
remained for five years, until, upon the petition of the 
Governor, Sir Hugh Hopton, to whom he owed money, 
he was allowed out upon his bond. 

Mary's reign is also memorable for the only instance on 
record of the imprisonment of members by the Bench. 
In 1556 certain barristers having contemptuously defied 
the Benchers, eight of them were committed to the Fleet 
and expelled the House. 

The following year an order greatly affecting the pro- 
fession was promulgated, providing that no attorney 



HISTORICAL SKETCH 127 

should be admitted to the Inn, from which time the divid- 
ing Hne between counsel and solicitors, so far as our 
House is concerned, has been strictly observed. 

The Middle Temple did not follow this innovation till 
much later. 

At the creation of seven Serjeants in 1555 the feast was 
held in the Inner Temple Hall, when the judg-es presented 
the new Serjeants with their coifs. 

Among-st the sumptuary regulations of this period was 
an order of May 5th, 1555, made apparently by the judges 
and promulgated by the Benchers of the Inner Temple 
and Lincoln's Inn, forbidding beards of more than three 
weeks' growth. 

The growth of membership which had commenced 
under Edward was still further increased during the reign 
of Elizabeth. As in median^al times, so once again it 
became the fashion for men of rank and wealth to enter 
the Inns of Court without any idea of following the pro- 
fession of the law, a practice still followed, and especially 
so in the Society of the Inner Temple. 

In this way our House became closely associated with 
the Court and with the leading political events of the day. 

With the rising in the North of 1569 our House was 
connected in the person of Charles Neville, Earl of West- 
morland. This was the attempt to force Elizabeth to 
acknowledge Mary as her heiress and to withdraw her 
support from the reformed faith. Flying with the Earl 
of Northumberland, Neville escaped to the Netherlands, 
where he reached an advanced age, living "meanly and 
miserably." 

Entering Durham Cathedral at the head of the northern 
gentry and yeomen, the two earls had torn in pieces the 
Bible and Prayer-book, and had then knelt whilst mass 
was heard for the last time in any of the old cathedrals 
in England. 

Michael Tempest, a student of our House, was also 



128 THE INNER AND MIDDLE TEMPLE 

engfagfed in this affair, and was attainted, but, escaping- 
to Flanders, he took service with the Spaniards and died 
in exile. 

In several of the numerous plots to assassinate Elizabeth 
our House was directly concerned. Through the summer 
of 1582 Parsons and Allen had been plotting with Philip 
and the Duke of Guise the assassination of the Queen. 
If successful Guise was to land an army on our shores 
in co-operation with James. 

To this plot Francis Throckmorton, eldest son of Sir John 
Throckmorton, Chief Justice of Chester, and both members 
of our House, was a party. Arrested on suspicion, he 
confessed on the rack the whole story. He was executed 
in 1584. His son John was also a student of the Inner. 

Another member of our House engaged in this con- 
spiracy was William Shelley, who was convicted, but was 
sufficiently fortunate to obtain a reprieve. 

Thomas Salusbury was not so lucky. Condemned for 
participation in the intrigues to release Mary from im- 
prisonment in 1586, he was executed. 

Another student attainted for participation in this re- 
bellion was Marmaduke Blakiston. 

Philip Howard, Earl of Arundel, was admitted to our 
society iii 1579, prior to which he had led a life of frivolity. 
Withdrawing from the Court, he became involved in in- 
trigues against the Crown. Attainted in 1589, he was 
committed to the Tower, where he died in 1595. 

For the trial of Mary Queen of Scots Sir Edmund 
Anderson, one of our most famous members, was 
selected by Elizabeth to sit as one of the judges. He 
was admitted in 1550, and upon the death of Sir Thomas 
Dyer appointed Chief Justice of the Common Pleas. He 
presided too at the trial of Davison in the Star Chamber, 
who was made the scapegoat for Mary's execution 
upon the ground of having improperly signed the death 
warrant. The Queen was entertained by Sir Edmund 




o 



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u 

X 

111 

3 

c 
a 

X 

u 

X 

Id 



HISTORICAL SKETCH 129 

at his seat at Harefield. He died in 1605. His portrait 
hang-s at the head of the stairs leading to the Parliament 
Chambers. 

Other great worthies of " the spacious times of 
Elizabeth " members of our House were Sir William 
Pole, the antiquary, who left a larg-e collection of MSS. 
for the history and antiquities of Devonshire, the bulk 
of which perished in the Civil Wars, and who was 
elected Treasurer in 1565; Nicholas Wadham, the founder 
of Wadham Colleg-e, Oxford ; Sir Henry Unton, ambas- 
sador to the Court of France, who challenged the Duke 
of Guise for speaking disrespectfully of the Virgin 
Queen ; Lord Howard of Effingham, Lord High Admiral, 
the hero of the Great Armada and the first English 
ambassador to Russia ; and Robert Devereux, Earl of 
Essex, the ill-fated favourite of a capricious mistress. 

To our House alone belongs the distinction of being 
even remotely connected with the Gunpowder Plot. The 
Treshams had for several generations been members of 
the Inn. Francis Tresham, one of the conspirators, was 
not a member of our House, but his father. Sir Thomas 
Tresham, had chambers here during the reign of Queen 
Elizabeth, and his two younger brothers, Lewis and 
William, were both members of the society. The 
Treshams were active Catholics, and had been engaged 
in intrigues for many years. They were cousins of 
Catesby and the two Winters. To what extent Francis 
participated in the plot is undetermined, but according 
to Professor S. R. Gardiner it was Francis who sent the 
celebrated letter to Lord Monteagle, his brother-in- 
law. Francis died in the Tower, before the trial, on 
December 22nd, 1605. For many generations the anni- 
versary of the King's deliverance was observed by a 
bonfire at the Inn gate. 

The trial of the other conspirators took place at West- 
minster on January 27th, 1606. Amongst the commis- 

K 



I30 THE INNER AND MIDDLE TEMPLE 

sioners were the Earl of Northampton, a member of our 
House ; Sir John Popham, of the Middle Temple ; Sir 
Thomas Fleming", Lord Chief Baron of the Exchequer, of 
Lincoln's Inn ; and Sir Peter Waberton, a Judge of the 
Common Pleas, of the same society. Sir Edward 
Phelips, Serjeant, opened for the Crown, followed by 
Sir Edward Coke, Attorney-General, in a speech of great 
length, full of moralising, religious sentiments, extracts 
from Spanish and French history, Latin quotations, and 
strong language. After verdict and sentence there was 
little delay. Sir Everard Digby, Robert Winter, Grant, 
and Bates were executed on the 30th at the west end 
of St. Paul's, and the rest the following Friday in Old 
Palace Yard, Westminster. 

Garnet, the Jesuit priest, was tried two months later at 
the Guildhall, for his participation in the plot. At the 
trial Sir Edward Coke was led by Sir John Croke. 
Although Garnet was sentenced to be drawn, hanged, 
and quartered at the west end of St. Paul's, he was 
allowed to remain on the gallows until dead. 

Two other members of our House appear by the 
records to have been implicated, but how or to what 
extent I am unable to determine. Oliver Manners, son 
of the Earl of Rutland of Belvoir, M.P. for Grantham, 
and Clerk of the Council, was obliged to flee the country. 
Henry Huddleston, son of Sir Edmund Huddleston, of 
Paswick, Essex, was not so fortunate. He was seized 
and imprisoned and his lands confiscated. 

Upon the creation of Prince Henry as Prince of Wales 
in 1609 the barriers, or sham tournament, were revived. 
On this occasion the combatants wore plate armour and 
wielded sword and pike. Henry was himself an accom- 
plished exponent of both weapons, and in his portrait 
is represented with a pike. 

A similar entertainment was given on November 4th, 
1616, in the Banqueting Hall, at Whitehall, by the Inns 



HISTORICAL SKETCH 131 

of Court, each society sending ten members. Of the 
ten gentlemen selected to sustain the honour of our 
House are some well-known names. George Vernon, 
who became a Baron of the Exchequer and a Justice of 
the Common Pleas ; Master Wilde, afterwards Lord 
Keeper ; Edward Lyttelton, who attained the same 
office ; and Thomas Trevor, a Baron of the Exchequer in 
1625. 

Nichols, in his Progress of King fames, gives the follow- 
ing account of these proceedings : — 

"At night to crowne it with more heroicall honour 
fortie worthie gentlemen of the noble societies of innes of 
Court, being tenne of each house, every one appoynted 
in way of honourable combate to breake three staves, 
three swords, and exchange ten blowes apiece (whose 
names for their worthinesse I commend to fame), begunne 
thus each to encounter the other." 

Other witnesses, however, are not so complimentary. 
Chamberlain, in a letter to Sir Dudley Carleton, writes: — 

" I had almost forgot that our inns of court gentlemen 
carried themselves but indifferently at the barrier the 
night of the Prince's creation, but especially in their com- 
pliments, wherein they were not so graceful as was to 
be wished and expected, but in requital they played the 
man at the banquet." 

John Hawarde, the author of the well-known Reportcs 
del Cases in Camera Sfe/la/a, belongs to this period. 
Called in 1598, he became a Bencher in 161 3 and Reader 
in 1625. His two sons, John and William, were both 
members of our House. The latter was knighted by 
Charles I. on September 9th, 1643, for his defence of 
Sudeley Castle. His widow, in 1652, refused to take the 
oath of abjuration, and in consequence two-thirds of her 
jointure was sequestered. Lady Martha was buried in 
the west cloister at Westminster Abbey. Their son, also 
William, was admitted in 1663. 



132 thp: inner and middle temple 

The family of Coventry has played a leading part in 
the domestic affairs of our House, and Sir Thomas 
Coventry, as Lord Keeper of the Great Seal from 1625 
till his death in 1639, connects the society with many 
of the g-reat events of the day. Favourably noticed 
by Sir Edward Coke, he incurred the hostility of Bacon, 
who, upon his application for the Recordership of the 
City, wrote to James that "the man upon whom the 
choice is like to fall, which is Coventry, I hold doubtful 
for your service ; not but what he is well learned and an 
honest man, but he hath been, as it were, bred by Lord 
Coke and seasoned in his ways." 

That Coventry was a sound and able lawyer is well- 
established, but he was not made of the same stuff as 
Coke. Although he held his own with Buckingham and 
other Court favourites, he was a strong, though not an 
extreme, supporter of Charles. 

In June, 1635, he delivered in the Council a powerful 
speech in favour of Noy's scheme for levying ship-money. 
"The dominion of the sea," he said, "as it is an 
ancient and undoubted right of the Crown of England, 
so it is the best security of the land. The wooden walls 
are the best walls of this kingdom." 

But in the great case against Hampden he took no part. 
He was Treasurer of the Inn from 1617 to 1625, when he 
was succeeded by Sir Robert Heath. In 1618 we find 
Heath in the occupation of chambers in Fuller's Rents, 
looking out into Ram Alley. He became successively 
Recorder of London, Solicitor- and Attorney-General, and 
Chief Justice of the Common Pleas, from which office he 
was discharged without any cause being assigned, and 
resumed his practice at the Bar as junior serjeant. In 
1641 he was made a Judge of the King's Bench, and 
joined the King at York the following year. He was 
subsequently appointed Chief Justice, but never sat as 
such in Westminster Hall. Upon his impeachment in 



HISTORICAL SKETCH 133 

1644 he fled to France, and died five years later at Calais. 
Heath was one of the chief advocates of the Crown, and 
with great learning and ingenuity assisted Charles in his 
fooHsh and high-handed encroachments upon the liberty 
of the subject. 

A career singularly like that of Heath was Sir Edward 
Lyttelton's, whom we find also in Fuller's Rents, in Coke's 
old chambers, in 1634. He became successively Chief 
Justice of North Wales, Recorder of London, Solicitor- 
General, Chief Justice of the Common Pleas, and finally 
in 1641 Lord Keeper of the Great Seal. A fellow-student 
with Selden, he appeared for his old friend upon his 
imprisonment for the tonnage and poundage affair in 
1629. Although a moderate man, Lyttelton delivered an 
elaborate argument against Hampden in the ship-money 
case, occupying three days. With the acceptance of the 
Great Seal his troubles commenced. In the absence of 
the King he became the sport of both parties and equally 
distrusted by both, a position so embarrassing as to cause 
him a serious illness. He finally solved the difficulty by 
secretly flying from London and carrying the Seal with 
him to the King at York. On the outbreak of the Civil 
War he was commissioned by Charles to raise a regiment 
of foot from the Inns of Court and Chancery, of which he 
became colonel. It was when drilling these recruits at 
Oxford that he contracted a cold from which he died. 

Lyttelton, although a timid politician, was one of the 
first swordsmen of his day and of approved valour in the 
field. He was succeeded in the command of his regiment 
by Heath. 

Two of Lyttelton's brothers, James, Chancellor of Wor- 
cester and a Master in Chancery, and Timothy, a Baron 
of the Exchequer, were both of our House. So, too, was 
Thomas Lyttelton, who married the Lord Keeper's 
daughter and heiress. 

John Hampden had been admitted a member of our 



134 THE INNER AND MIDDLE TEMPLE 

House in 1613. His name is indelibly imprinted upon 
the constitutional history of our country, and will ever 
live in the grateful remembrance of our race. 

"A Hampden, too, is thine illustrious House, 
Wise, strenuous, firm, of unsubmitting soul, 
Who stemmed the torrent of a downward age, 
To slavery prone." 

He lost his life in a petty skirmish on Chalgrove Field in 
1643. His father, William Hampden, of Clifford's Inn, 
was specially admitted a member of our House in 1588 
upon payment of a fine of ^3 6^-. Sd. He married 
Elizabeth, daughter of Sir Henry Cromwell, of Hinchin- 
brook. He died in 1597, leaving- John, an infant of three 
years old, to be brought up by his mother. 

John Hutton, a student of our House, another Hamp- 
den, was imprisoned for his refusal to pay ship-money, 
and, upon his release, was elected by the popular party 
a member of the Long Parliament ; but, fearing his 
colleagues were going too far, he went over to the 
Royalists and joined the King at Oxford. 

Sir John Croke's son, also called John, joined the King 
with a troop of horse, and ruined his estate in the Royal 
cause. Others of the Croke famil}^, members of our 
House, were Serjeant Unton Croke, who enjoyed the 
favour of Cromwell, and his son, Unton, a captain in the 
Parliamentary forces, who defeated and captured the un- 
fortunate Colonel Penruddock. 

Penruddock, a student of Gray's Inn, having in March, 
1655, raised a small force with Sir Joseph Wagstaflfe, occu- 
pied Salisbury, and seizing the judges, Rolle and Nicholas, 
who were there on circuit, proclaimed Charles II. Wag- 
staffe wished to hang the judges, but was prevented 
by Penruddock. Failing to raise the country, they were 
retiring into Cornwall when they were surprised by 
Unton Croke at South Molton in North Devon. 

Penruddock was tried and executed at Exeter, Serjeant 



HISTORICAL SKETCH 135 

Glynne presiding- at the trial, the other commissioners 
being- Rolle, Nicholas, and Serjeant Steele. Both Rolle 
and Nicholas were members of the Inner, the former a 
staunch supporter of Cromwell. In 1648 he was ap- 
pointed Chief Justice of the King's Bench, and after the 
execution of Charles he accepted a new commission as 
Chief Justice of the Upper Bench. He was the author of 
Rolle's Abridgment des plusieiirs Cases et Resolutions del 
Comniiin Ley. Nicholas, just before his elevation to the 
Upper Bench, was one of the counsel for the Common- 
wealth against Lilburne, Prynne, and others. 

Many other members and students of the Inner, too 
numerous to mention, were actively engag-ed in the field 
on one side or the other. To cull a few names from the 
Roll of Admittances at this period : Sir Robert Pye, called 
1 595) M.P. for Bath and Woodstock, Auditor of the 
Exchequer under James I. and the first Charles, defended 
his seat, Faringdon House, which he had purchased from 
the Unton family, for the King against the Parliamentary 
forces commanded by his second son ! 

This appears to be the Robert Pye who in 1601 was 
" disgraded from the degree and place at the Bar," and 
"also expulsed and put out of this House and fellowship 
of the same for a most foul and treacherous practice of 
his in the wrongful and malicious persecution against 
Christopher Merricke, gentleman, one also of the outter 
Barristers of this House, to the endangering- of the life 
and loss of lands and goods of the said Mr. Merricke." 

Pye was brought before the Star Chamber and con- 
demned in a fine of 1,000 marks, to stand in the pillory at 
Westminster Hall and there to lose one ear, to ride 
thence with his face to the horse's tail to Temple Gate, 
and there to be pilloried and lose the other ear, and to 
suffer perpetual imprisonment. 

The House was scolded for admitting such a m;ui, who 
should have followed his father's trade, who was but a 



136 THE INNER AND MIDDLE TEMPLE 

butcher. This allegation of low birth was a pure in- 
vention, for Pye was the second son of Sir William Pye, 
of Mynde Park, Hereford. Robert Pye was successively 
Member of Parliament for Bath, Ludgershall, West- 
minster, Grampound, Woodstock, and the county of 
Berks. He died in 1662. 

His elder brother, Sir Walter Pye, was chosen Treasurer 
of the Middle Temple in 1626. He was Attorney of the 
Court of Wards and Liveries. 

Robert Pye the younger married Anne, daughter of 
John Hampden, which sufficiently accounts for his taking 
sides with Parliament. He saw much service under 
Essex, for whom he had raised a troop of horse. He 
was among those who joined the Prince of Orange on his 
march on London in December, 1688. His son Edmund 
was grandfather of Henry James Pye, the poet laureate. 

Basil, Lord Fielding, admitted 1628, who became one 
of the most eminent of the Parliamentary generals, op- 
posed his father, the Earl of Denbigh, in the field. 

Mark Trevor, admitted 1634, was the colonel in the 
Royal army "who wounded the tyrant Cromwell in the 
face," and for this and other services he was created (1662) 
Viscount Dungannon and Baron Rostrevor. 

Thomas Wentworth, admitted 1607, was created Earl 
of Strafford 1640, and fell on the scaffold the following 
year. 

Francis, Lord Cottington, admitted 163 1, afterwards 
Chancellor of the Exchequer and Lord Treasurer, fled 
into exile with Charles H., and dying at Valladolid, 1653, 
was subsequently buried in Westminster Abbey. He was 
Master of the Court of Wards and Liveries in 1640. 

A younger student, admitted 1637, was Robert Phelips, 
grandson of the famous Sir Edward Phelips, Master of 
the Rolls. He assisted Charles to escape to France after 
the battle of Worcester, and is no doubt the young 
Colonel Lee of Scott's Woodstock. Contemporary with 



HISTORICAL SKETCH 137 

these two is Thomas Blount, admitted two years later, an 
eminent antiquary, and the author of Boscobel, a personal 
narrative of the King's adventures after the disaster at 
Worcester. He was an intimate friend of Selden, Sir 
William Dugdale, and other literary men of the time. 
Another student, a member of this coterie, was William 
Browne, author of Britaiuiiii's Pastorals, The Shepherd's 
Pipe, and other pieces. Blount's uncle. Sir Walter, and 
his four sons, two at least of whom were members of our 
House, fought for the King. 

Other Royalist members were Colonel Edward Slaughter, 
of Cheyne Court, Hereford, admitted 1619 ; Sir Henry 
Newton, of Chulton, Kent, admitted in 1632, who held a 
command at Edge Hill ; and Major Anthony Dyott, son 
of a Bencher, who was called in 1652, and held a com- 
mission in the King's forces. The Dyotts' chambers were 
in Fig Tree Court. 

In 1648, the same year in which Thomas Blount was 
called to the Bar, Sir Roger Mostyn's chambers were 
sequestered. He is said to have expended ^^60,000 in 
the service of the King. Sir Roger was captured at 
Conway by Colonel Carter. He appears to have made 
his peace with the Inn, for he was called to the Bar in 

1655- 

Two prominent members on the other side were Robert 
Devereux, Earl of Essex, the great Parliamentary general, 
and Sir Robert Rich, a Master in Chancery, afterwards 
Earl of Warwick, both specially admitted together in 
1605, with the Earls of Arundel, Oxford, and Northampton, 
and other men of rank. Robert Devereux, son of the 
ill-fated favourite of Elizabeth, was married to Lady 
Frances Howard, daughter of the Earl of Suffolk, both 
being mere children, fourteen years of age. After eight 
years of married life. Lady Frances, having formed an 
attachment for Sir Robert Carr, afterwards Earl of 
Somerset, the first favourite of James I., brought the 



138 THE INNER AND MIDDLE TEMPLE 

famous nullity suit against her husband, and, upon its 
successful termination, immediately married Carr. The 
action was tried before the Archbishop of Canterbury, 
half a dozen bishops, and two medical men, James taking 
the utmost personal interest in the evidence and using 
all his influence to secure the verdict. This trial was 
regarded even in those days as a gross scandal. 

Sir Richard Onslow, a strong adherent of the popular 
party, raised a regiment for the Parliament, He was a 
grandson of Richard Onslow, Speaker of the House of 
Commons in the reign of Elizabeth, who by marriage 
acquired the Knoll Estate in Surrey. Both were members 
of our House. Sir Richard was present in a command at 
the siege of Basing House. He died unmolested at Knoll 
in 1664. 

After Lord Keeper Lyttelton's death in 1645, the Great 
Seal was entrusted to Sir Richard Lane, a Bencher of 
the Middle Temple and Attorney-General to the Prince 
of Wales in 1688. In Strafford's impeachment he dis- 
tinguished himself by his brilliant argument, which showed 
that the charges preferred did not amount to treason in 
point of law. 

Meanwhile Parliament, having declared the proceedings 
under the Great Seal at Oxford invalid, put the Seal of 
Parliament in commission and appointed Serjeant Wilde, 
a member of our House, as one of the commissioners 
with the powers of Lord Chancellor. Wilde was chairman 
of the committee appointed to draw up the impeachment 
of the bishops. In 1648 he was created Chief Baron of 
the Exchequer. 

Of the twelve judges appointed by the Commonwealth, 
Chief Justices RoUe and Nicholas have already been 
mentioned. Aske, of the Upper Bench, and Baron 
Gates, of the Exchequer, were both of our House. Aske 
was junior counsel, with Cooke Solicitor-General, for the 
Commonwealth at the trial of Charles. He occupied 



HISTORICAL SKETCH 139 

chambers in Churchyard Court South. He died in 
1656. 

A number of the regicides were members of our Inn. 
Thomas Challoner escaped to Zeeland, and died there in 
1667. Simon Mayne, member of Parliament for Ayles- 
bury, died in the Tower, and was buried in the Temple 
Church. William Cawley, Recorder of Chichester, and 
Gabriel Ludlow, a Bencher, both escaped to Vevey, where 
they died. Henry Marten, son of Sir Henry Marten, 
Dean of Arches and Judge of the Court of Admiralty, 
died in confinement at Chepstow Castle in 1681. Daniel 
Blagrave fled to Aachen, where he died in 1668. Anthony 
Stapley, member of Parliament for Arundel, died before 
the Restoration, as also did Sir William Constable, who 
had taken a very active part in the field for the Common- 
wealth. John Downes, a member of Parliament, pleaded 
guilty, and being recommended to mercy was reprieved. 
John Carew, relying upon the proclamation, surrendered. 
He was tried at the Old Bailey and executed. He was 
thus the only member to suffer the extreme penalty for 
treason. Andrew Broughton, who, as Chief Clerk of the 
Crown, read the indictment and called on the King to 
plead, and read the sentence, was also of our House. He 
escaped to Switzerland, where he died. All these were 
men of good familv. 

During the exile of Charles II. in France the Great 
Seal was placed in the hands of Sir Edward Herbert, 
who had been Attorney-General to the Queen, 1637, 
Solicitor-General, 1640, and Attorney-General, 1642. 
Associated with Selden, he was chosen to represent our 
House in the management of the great masque given at 
Christmastide, 1633-4, to Charles and Henrietta. 

The government of our House during the Civil War 
naturally fell into the hands of the supporters of the 
Parliament, but at the Restoration there were no reprisals, 
the Royalists quietly taking possession. 



I40 THE INNER AND MIDDLE TEMPLE 

Orlando Bridg-eman was immediately elected a Bencher 
of our House, and became in quick succession Chief 
Baron of the Exchequer, Chief Justice of the Common 
Pleas, and finally successor of Lord Clarendon as Lord 
Keeper in 1667. But he was not a success in the Court 
of Chancery. One of the greatest masters of the principles 
of Equity and Chancery procedure was Heneag"e Finch, 
son of Serjeant Finch, Recorder of London and Speaker 
of the House of Commons, both Benchers of our House. 
The elder Finch owned Kensington Palace, which was 
sold by his grandson to William HL In due course 
Solicitor-General and Attorney-General, young Heneage 
became Lord Keeper in 1673, and Lord Chancellor two 
years later. In i68i he was created Earl of Nottingham. 
He was styled by Cudworth the Oracle of Impartial 
Justice, and was regarded by all as a pattern of virtue 
and honour — a remarkable exception to the general 
corruption of his times. He died at his house in Great 
Queen Street, Lincoln's Inn Fields, in 1682. His cousin. 
Sir John Finch, of Gray's Inn, succeeded the elder Finch 
as Speaker of the House of Commons, and will go down 
to posterity in the undignified attitude of being held down 
in the chair on that memorable occasion when Sir John 
Eliot moved his resolution against tonnage and poundage. 
With tears he protested, " I will not say I will not put 
the question, but I say I dare not." 

Introduced by Clarendon, Finch had early secured the 
favour of Charles, and upon his appointment as Autumn 
Reader in 1661 he gave one of the most magnificent 
entertainments ever recorded in the Inner Temple Hall. 
The feast lasted several days, and was honoured on 
the last day by the presence of the King in person, 
accompanied by the Duke of York. 

The King came from Whitehall in his state barge, and 
was received by Sir Heneage Finch and the Chief Justice 
of the Common Pleas at the Temple Stairs, passing thence 




HEXEAGE FINCH, EARI- OF NOTTINGHAM 



HISTORICAL SKETCH 141 

throu2-h a double file of the Reader's servants clothed in 
scarlet cloaks and white doublets, whence, taking his 
way through a breach made expressly for the occasion 
in the garden wall, he passed through a lane formed of 
Benchers, Utter Barristers, and Students of the Inn, till 
he arrived at the Hall, when the wind instruments that 
had been sounding ever since he landed gave place to a 
band of twenty violins, which played throughout dinner. 
So pleased was the Duke of York that he was admitted 
there and then, and ultimately became a Barrister and 
Bencher of the society. Prince Rupert and other noble- 
men of distinction were also admitted as members. His 
son, also Heneage, called by our House, became Solicitor- 
General from 1679 to 1686, and was one of the principal 
counsel for the defence in the trial of the Seven Bishops. 
He was called to the Upper House by the title of Baron 
Guernsey by Anne, and created Earl of Aylesford by 
George I. 

Robert Foster, a member of our House, was the first 
Chief Justice of England to be appointed after the 
Restoration. He was one of the judges who tried Sir 
Harry Vane for treason. By declaring Charles H. de facto 
as well as de jure King on his father's death, these judges 
were able to avail themselves of a legal quibble to support 
their verdict of high treason. Vane and Lambert had 
been included in a proclamation of indemnity. The King 
violated his promise by the execution of Vane as much as 
the judges — time-serving tools — strained the law by his 
conviction. 

John Keelyng, called to Bar by the Inner in 1632, 
became Chief Justice of the King's Bench in 1665. He 
was one of the counsel for the Crown at the trial of 
Sir Harry Vane. Keelyng had chambers in Dupont's 
Buildings, which appear to have been behind Fuller's 
Rents, probably in or abutting upon Ram Alley. 

William Wycherley, the clever and licentious dramatist 



142 THE INNER AND MIDDLE TEMPLE 

of a corrupt age, the son of Daniel Wycherley, a member 
of our House, was admitted to the Inner Temple in 1659, 
and for some years lived as an inmate of the Temple, 
leading- a gay and profligate life. According to tradition, 
it was at his chambers here that he received the notorious 
Duchess of Cleveland, one of the gay monarch's mistresses, 
who, moved by his comely person, introduced herself to 
him in the Mall, in the coarse language of the period. 
She is said to have stolen from the Court to her lover's 
chambers in the Temple "disguised as a country girl, 
v/ith a straw hat on her head, pattens on her feet, and 
a basket in her hand." Before this event, however, 
Wycherley had probably left the Temple. 

The third scene in The Plain Dealer is laid in West- 
minster Hall, and if Wycherley's characters are faithful 
representations of the barristers of the day, the less said 
about them the better. 

Although a rival with Charles and Buckingham for the 
favours of the royal mistress, he was visited by that 
monarch, when struck down by illness and living in Cross 
Street, and was sent to France for the benefit of his 
health, at the expense of the royal purse. 

On his marriage with the Countess of Drogheda he 
incurred the displeasure of the Court, and he fared no 
better than Addison in this unequal match. So jealous 
was the Countess, that when he visited the Cock Tavern, 
opposite his house in Bow, he was obliged to leave the 
window open and show himself from time to time. A 
more serious result, however, was his imprisonment for 
debt in the Fleet Prison for several years. However, he 
survived this and the Countess, and married again, only 
to die eleven days after the ceremony. 



CHAPTER IV 



HISTORICAL SKETCH OF THE INNER TEMPLE 

[coiifiiiiicd) 



I 



N two public misfortunes which befell the City during 
the reig-n of Charles 11. the Inner Temple shared 
larg-ely. The summers of 1665 and 1666 found both 
Temples deserted in consequence of the plague, which 
then raged with such virulence, and scarcely had this 




Wam. Taui.et i-oNMi;i;i.Y in Innick Tkmpi.k Last:. 

abated when, on September 2nd, 1666, the Great Fire 
broke out, reaching the Temple on the 4th. 

Only by a free use of gunpowder, under the direction 
of the Duke of York, and a timely dropping of the wind 
was the Temple saved from complete destruction. As it 
was, the damage was enormous. The whole of King's 
Bench Walk, with the Alienation Ofhce, Fuller's Rents, 
and the houses in Ram Alley, the Exchequer Office, 

143 



144 THE INNER AND MIDDLE TEMPLE 

Tanfield Court, Caesar's Building-s, and most of the 
building^s east of the Hall, were swept away. The 
Master's house also perished, the flames even lickina- 
the east end of the church. An irregular line drawn on 
Ogilby's Plan shows the extent to which the fire extended 
to the west. A day or two afterwards the fire broke out 
in Fig: Tree Court, which was partially blown up in order 
to save the Hall. During- the next five years these build- 
ings were all rebuilt, but in October, 1677, another fire 
broke out in King's Bench Walk, destroying nearly the 
whole of the new structures there. 

A stone tablet on No. 4 commemorates this conflag- 
ration : — 

"Conflagratam An'' 1677. Fabricatam An" 1678. 
Richardo Powell, Armiger, Thesaurar. " 

This doorway, and also the more elaborate one with 
Corinthian brick columns at No. 5, are supposed to be 
the work of Sir Christopher Wren, who was largely 
employed in building operations in the Temple. 

With the Rye House Plot our House was connected in 
the person of John Ayloff, a member of the society and 
one of the conspirators. He fled to Scotland, where he 
was captured in the act of attempting suicide. He was 
brought back, tried, convicted, and hanged in front of 
the Inner Temple Gate on Friday, October 30th, 1685. 

A most extraordinary career is that of Francis Pember- 
ton. Called to the Bar in 1654 by the Inner, his early 
years were spent in dissipation, ending in imprisonment 
for debt. Whilst in durance vile, to assist his companions 
in misfortune, he applied himself closely to the study of 
the law, and came out, as some say, a sharper at the law, 
according to others, one of the ablest men at the Bar. 
Appearing as counsel at the House of Lords in a case in 
which the Commons asserted the Upper House had no 
jurisdiction, he was ordered into custody. Released by 



HISTORICAL SKETCH 145 

the Lords, he was retaken in the middle of Westminster 
Hall by the Speaker himself. Raised to the King's Bench 
in 1679 by the influence of the infamous Scrog-gs, he was 
removed from that office the following year, when he 
returned to his practice at the Bar. A year later he 
superseded Scroggs himself as Chief Justice of the 
King's Bench. Appointed Chief Justice of the Common 
Pleas in 1683, he presided at the trial of Lord William 
Russell. He was shortly afterwards dismissed, and his 
removal is said to have been occasioned by the honourable 
way he then conducted himself, or as Kennet euphoniously 
put it, by his not being able "to go into all the new 
Measures of the court." Returning once more to the Bar, 
he resumed a successful practice as a serjeant, and with 
Sir Robert Sawyer led for the defence in the trial of the 
Seven Bishops. He died in 1697. 

For a judge to return to his practice at the Bar was in 
those days by no means uncommon. In this they suffered 
no loss of dignity, since all judges were members of the 
Order of the Coif, and a serjeant was always treated by 
a judge as an equal, and addressed from the Bench as 
"Brother." Other examples are Sir Cresswell Levinz, 
Sir Edward Lutwyche, and Sir Edward Herbert, who 
after sitting on the Bench all returned to the Bar. 

On June 29th, 1688, in Westminster Hall took place 
one of the most memorable events in our history — the 
trial of the Seven Bishops for seditious libel, an event 
with which members of the Temple were intimately 
connected. 

Jeffreys of our House advised the prosecution, although 
when too late he would gladly have taken back his 
advice. * 

Sir Robert Wright, as we have said, presided at the 
trial, his colleagues on the Bench being Sir Richard 
AUybone, a Papist of Gray's Inn, who, as Macaulay 
rightly says, "showed such gross ignorance of law and 

L 



146 THE INNER AND MIDDLE TEMPLE 

history as brought on him the contempt of all who heard 
him," and Sir Richard HoUoway, hitherto a serviceable 
tool of the Court. A member of the Inner Temple, 
Holloway had practised locally at Oxford, and lived 
opposite the "Blue Boar" in St, Aldg-ate's, In spite of 
his judg-ment in favour of the bishops, and his conse- 
quent immediate dismissal from the Bench, Holloway was 
excepted by William out of the Bill of Indemnity. 

Sir John Powell, the fourth occupant of the Bench, 
was a member of Gray's Inn, and by his honourable 
conduct on this occasion restored a reputation for honesty 
somewhat damaged. For this he was dismissed with 
Holloway, but restored to the Bench by William, after 
having declined the office of Lord Keeper of the Great 
Seal. 

The counsel for the Crown were Sir Thomas Powis, of 
Lincoln's Inn, Attorney-General, a third-rate lawyer, who 
was raised to the Queen's Bench in 1713, but removed 
the following year for incapacity upon the advice of Lord 
Chancellor Cowper; Sir William Williams, the life-long 
rival of Sir Robert Sawyer, who led for the defence, and 
who had been Speaker of the House of Commons for a 
few days in 1678. 

Sawyer shared with Jeffreys and North the guilt of 
Sir Thomas Armstrong's blood, and he conducted the 
cases against Lord William Russell and Sir P. Sidney. 
Attacked in the House, he was accused by Williams of 
"wilful murder" in a speech which persuaded the House 
to expel him by 131 votes to 71. 

In many of these State trials Williams appeared for the 
defence. He had been Speaker of the House of Com- 
mons in the last two Parliaments of Charles II. In 
pronouncing the expulsion of Sir Richard Peyton, he 
said: "This Parliament nauseates such members as you 
are ; you are no longer a part of this noble body." 

After the dissolution for this language he was challenged 



HISTORICAL SKETCH 147 

by Sir Richard, who, upon WilHams's complaint to the 
authorities, was committed to the Tower, a truly proper 
mode of settlings a duel for a lawyer to adopt ! Shortly 
after this incident Sawyer had his reveng-e. In the 
Parliament of 1681 Williams was charged with libel upon 
the ground that Dangerfield's narrative of the Meal Tub 
Plot, the printing- of which it had been his duty as 
Speaker to license, implicated the Duke of York. In 
this business Sawyer assumed the noble character of 
"informer," with the result that Williams was fined 
;^io,ooo, of which the Duke rebated ^2,000 for cash 
down. 

Instead of resenting- such treatment at the hands of the 
Court, Williams was thenceforth a zealous and ardent 
supporter of James, and so became Sir William Williams 
and Solicitor-General, with a promise of the Woolsack if 
he secured a verdict against the bishops. It was Sawyer 
who largely contributed to his defeat. In the course of 
the trial they both constantly made bitter personal 
attacks upon one another. For once, however, they 
acted together in the great debate on the abdication of 
James. Sawyer asserted that James was no longer King, 
and the unblushing forehead and voluble tongue of Sir 
William Williams were found on the same side, together 
with the voices of Wharton, the aged Serjeant Maynard, 
and the rising young Somers. 

" How. men like Williams live through such infamy," 
says Macaulay, "it is not easy to understand. He had 
been deeply concerned in the excesses both of the worst 
of Oppositions and the worst of Governments. He had 
persecuted innocent Papists and innocent Protestants. 
He had been the patron of Oates and the tool of Petre. 
But even such infamy was not enough for Williams. He 
was not ashamed to attack the fallen tyrant to whom he 
had hired himself out for work which no honest man in 
the Inns of Court would undertake." 



148 THE INNER AND MIDDLE TEMPLE 

Sawyer was Treasurer of our House, and was Attorney- 
General 1681-7. He sat for Cambridge University from 
1689 till his death in 1692, At Cambridge, where he had 
a brilliant career, he was chamber-fellow of Samuel Pepys 
at Magdalene. 

With Powis and Williams were Serjeant Trinder, a 
Papist, of the Inner, and Sir Bartholomew Shower, of the 
Middle, Recorder of London, and author of some well- 
known Reports, " but whose fulsome apologies and endless 
repetitions," says Macaulay, were the jest of Westminster 
Hall. One of the junior counsel for the Crown was 
Nathan Wright of our House, afterwards Lord Keeper 
under William IIL 

On the other side with Sawyer were Serjeant Pemberton, 
whose acute intellect and skilful conduct of the case proved 
too much for the prosecution ; Heneage Finch, afterwards 
Earl of Aylesford, who nearly lost the case for the bishops 
by his anxiety to make a fine speech ; and Henry Pollexfen, 
leader of the Western Circuit, where he had been selected 
by Jeffreys to prosecute in many of the cases at the Bloody 
Assize. All these were members of our House. Pollexfen 
was a Whig, and had been leading counsel for Lord 
William Russell, and had appeared for the City in defence 
of its charters. The greatest blot on his character was his 
appearance as prosecuting counsel against Alice L'Isle. 
In 1689 he became Attorney-General, and a few months 
later Chief Justice of the Common Pleas. He is the 
author of some Reports. 

Serjeant Cresswell Levinz, also the author of Reports 
bearing his name, appeared for the bishops, though sadly 
against his will. Although a man of great learning and 
experience, he was of weak character, and it was only 
upon the threat of the whole body of attorneys never to 
brief him again that he accepted a brief. He was a 
member of the Middle Temple. 

Sir George Treby, also a member of the Middle Temple, 



HISTORICAL SKETCH 149 

was counsel on the same side. He had succeeded Jeffreys 
as Recorder of London, but was dismissed in consequence 
of holding briefs for defendants obnoxious to the Court. 
Upon the landing- of the Prince of Orange he was re- 
instated, and headed the procession of welcome to 
William, delivering the address. He subsequently became 
Attorney-General and Chief Justice of the Common Pleas. 
He frequently sat as Speaker of the House of Lords during 
the illnesses of Somers. 

Sir John Holt, of the Middle Temple, was not retained 
for the bishops owing to some prejudice of Sancroft's, 
but he acted as adviser to the Bishop of London. 

The junior counsel was John Somers, who obtained his 
brief through the influence of Johnstone and Pollexfen, 
the latter of whom declared that no man in West- 
minster Hall was so well qualified to treat a historical 
and constitutional question as Somers. Somers was a 
member of the Middle Temple. His chambers were in 
Elm Court. 

With all this talent opposed to them, the counsel for 
the Crown were hard put to. It was not until they had 
put Blathwayt, Clerk of the Privy Council, in the box 
that they were able to prove the handwriting of the 
defendants, and when they had at last established this 
they were met with the necessity of proving that the libel 
was written in Middlesex, as alleged in the indictment. 
Shifting their ground, they then attempted to prove its 
publication in this county, and after completely failing to 
do this closed their case. Wright began to charge the 
jury, when Finch, foolishly as was thought at the moment, 
claimed to be heard. "If you will be heard," said the 
Chief Justice, " you shall be heard, but you do not under- 
stand your own interests." In the meantime a messenger 
arrived who announced that Lord Sunderland was coming 
to prove the publication. 

The evidence of the Lord President of the Council was 



150 THE INNER AND MIDDLE TEMPLE 

held to be sufficient to allow the case to go to the jury, 
and after a long- legal argument upon the prerogative of 
the King, Wright summed up, trimming as best he could, 
and holding the petition to be a libel in point of law. 
Perhaps he was prescient of his coming fate, for he looked, 
as a bystander remarked, as if all the peers present had 
halters in their pockets. 

Allybone, who supported him, exhibited such ignorance 
as to incur the open contempt of that vast concourse. 
Holloway declared the petition to be no libel, and Powell 
was even more courageous, avowing that the Declaration 
of Indulgence was a nullity and the dispensing power 
utterly inconsistent in law. 

The jury were locked up all night, and the solicitor for 
the bishops sat too outside their door to prevent any 
tampering by the Court party. At first the jury were nine 
to three for an acquittal. Two of the latter soon gave 
way, but Arnold, the King's brewer, held out. " What- 
ever I do," he bitterly complained, "I shall be half-ruined. 
If I say Not guilty, I shall brew no more for the King ; 
and if I say Guilty, I shall brew no more for anybody 
else." 

His dogged resolution was broken down by Austin, a 
country gentleman of high position. " Look at me," 
he cried. " I am the largest and strongest of the twelve, 
and before I find such a petition as this a libel, here I will 
stay till I am no bigger than a tobacco pipe." 

Arnold gave in at six o'clock next morning, and at ten, 
amidst the frenzied shouts of thousands of persons in 
Westminster Hall, the verdict of "Not Guilty" was 
pronounced, shouts that were taken up by the dense 
crowds outside, and heard as far as Temple Bar. 

Thus ended this momentous struggle for civil and 
religious liberty. 

A few months later James fled the country, and upon 
the accession of William, Sir John Trevor was appointed 



HISTORICAL SKETCH 151 

one of the Commissioners of the Great Seal. Sir John 
had been Treasurer of our House, Attorney-General, and 
the Master of the Rolls. To the latter post he was now 
reappointed. In 1695 he became Speaker of the House 
of Commons, and by virtue of a statute recently passed, 
he walked at the funeral of Queen Mary as the First 
Commoner of the realm. A week later he had to put 
the question from the chair: "That Sir John Trevor, 
Speaker of this House, receiving- a gratuity of one thou- 
sand g-uineas from the City of London after passing of 
the Orphans Bill, is guilty of a high crime and mis- 
demeanour." 

In spite of this signal disgrace he had still the effrontery 
to retain the Mastership of the Rolls. He had an un- 
fortunate squint, and it was no uncommon occurrence for 
two members each to claim to have caught the Speaker's 
eye at the same moment. 

In his early days Trevor had been a boon companion of 
Jeffreys, and when he no longer required the latter's 
support, he frequently turned upon his old friend, proving 
himself as great a master of coarse invective as the 
Chancellor himself. He married a daughter of Sir Roger 
Mostyn, and from his own daughter was descended the 
great Duke of Wellington. 

The reign of William and Mary is not remarkable in 
the annals of our society, which was mainly occupied with 
the reorganisation of its internal economy. From 1691 the 
Treasurer was elected for one year only from the Masters 
of the Bench in order of seniority, and ^100 was voted 
for the expenses of his office. In 1693 the portraits of the 
King and Queen were painted by Sir Godfrey Kneller, 
and now hang in the Hall, together with that of Anne by 
the same artist, the commission for which was left in the 
hands of the Treasurer, Sir Simon Harcourt. 

The large picture of Pegasus surrounded by Neptune 
and the Muses springing from Mount Helicon was 



152 THE INNER AND MIDDLE TEMPLE 

painted by Sir James Thornhill, then in high favour at 
Court, in 1709. This painting- used to hang at the east 
end of the old Hall, a position which it occupies in the 
new, and which shows us the extent of the enlargement 
of the present building. 

Simon Harcourt perhaps, of all our members, cut the 
finest figure during the reign of Queen Anne. A scion of 
an ancient family seated at Stanton Harcourt, he was 
immediately upon his call to the Bar in 1683 appointed 
Recorder of Abingdon, for which borough he was returned 
as Tory member in 1690. Eight years later he was 
selected by the House to manage the impeachment of 
Lord Somers for his share in the Partition Treaty, and in 
1702 he was appointed Solicitor-General and elected a 
Bencher of his Inn. At the Old Bailey he appeared for 
De Foe, and in the House took a leading part in the debate 
on the case of Ashby v. White. As a reward for his 
services in the union with Scotland, he received the office 
of Attorney-General, 

He next appeared for Dr. Sacheverell at the Bar of the 
House of Lords, and the silver salver presented by his 
grateful client is still to be seen at Nuneham, an estate 
which he purchased when Lord Keeper from the Weymes 
family. 

At Cokethorpe, near Stanton Harcourt, his other seat, 
he entertained Anne, and here in the uppermost chamber 
of the tower Pope had his study, in which he wrote his 
Homer. In 1713 Harcourt was created Lord Chancellor, 
as a reward for his zeal in the Treaty of Utrecht. 

Reappointed Chancellor on the death of Anne, he was 
dismissed by George upon his arrival in London, and 
retired to Cokethorpe, where Pope, Gay, Prior, and Swift 
were his constant visitors. Harcourt was styled by the 
Dean the "Trimmer," a name which stuck, but which 
perhaps was somewhat too severe. Amongst his con- 
temporaries his reputation as a speaker stood very high. 



HISTORICAL SKETCH 153 

Speaker Onslow said of him that he "had the greatest 
skill and power of speech of any man I ever knew in a 
public assembly." 

In the London Post, dated June ist, 1700, it is related 
how "two days agfo a lawyer of the Temple coming to 
town in his coach was robbed by two highwaymen on 
Hounslow Heath of £%o, his watch, and whatever they 
could find valuable about him." This "lawyer" was 
Simon Harcourt. The men were caught on the ferry-boat 
at Kew and all the valuables recovered. 

Harcourt's town house was Arundel House, in the 
Strand, but his name is perpetuated in the Temple by 
Harcourt Buildings. 

His portrait hangs in the Hall. He married for his 
third wife a daughter of Sir Thomas Trevor, and grand- 
daughter of the great John Hampden. Sir Thomas 
Trevor was also Treasurer of our House. After filling 
the offices of Solicitor- and Attorney-General, Trevor 
became in 1701 Chief Justice of the Common Pleas. In 
171 1, in order to secure a majority in the Lords for the 
peace, Harley and St. John exercised the prerogative 
of the Crown by the creation of twelve new peers. Trevor 
was one of these, and he was the first Chief Justice 
of the Common Pleas to be raised to the peerage 
whilst still holding this oflice. His wife was Ruth, 
daughter of Hampden. A fellow-student with Trevor 
was Sir John Pratt, Chief Justice of the King's Bench in 
1 7 18, and father of the celebrated Lord Camden. 

In December, 1692, the Temple was the scene of a 
tragedy. Mr. Graham, an attorney, was killed by one 
Young in the Temple Walks, and two years later a 
Mr. Mansell, whose name occurs in our records, "being 
somewhat melancholy, having had considerable losses, 
threw himself out of a window three story high in the 
Temple, of which fall he soon dyed." 

The most important event in the legal world during the 



154 1'HE INNER AND MIDDLE TEMPLE 

reign of George I. was disastrous to the honour of our 
House. 

Thomas Parker, Earl of Macclesfield, had obtained the 
highest honours of the profession by his own splendid 
attainments and remarkable abilities. Called to the Bar 
by the Inner Temple in 1691, he soon took the lead in 
public affairs, and as a reward for his exertions in the 
impeachment of Dr. Sacheverell, was appointed Chief 
Justice of the Queen's Bench in 1710. On May 12th, 1718, 
Parker started from the terrace outside the Hall, accom- 
panied by a long train of Benchers and members of the 
Inn, to be sworn in as Lord Chancellor at Westminster. 
For seven years his star was in the ascendant. He was 
courted as one of the greatest men in the kingdom. In 
the dedication to a life of Jeffreys his incorruptible 
integrity and splendid career were contrasted with the 
corruption and degradation of his predecessor. Suddenly, 
without warning, he resigned, and within three weeks 
was impeached for the sale of offices and receiving pay- 
ment with the knowledge that it was provided out of the 
suitors' fund. He was found guilty, fined _;^30,ooo, and 
his name struck off the list of the Privy Council. 

There can be no question that Parker had grossly abused 
his high position, but he should not be judged too harshly. 
His greed had only outrun the usual practice of his pre- 
decessors. The office of a Master in Chancery was a most 
profitable one, not only from the fees legitimately paid, but 
from the use he was enabled to make of suitors' money which 
was paid into Court. Each Master occupied the position 
now held by the Bank over funds in Court. Upon resigna- 
tion a Master received ;^6,ooo and the Chancellor 1,500 
guineas for the admission. When a Master died Maccles- 
field received 5,000 guineas for the new appointment. It 
was a vicious system, and matters were brought to a 
climax owing to a Master "plunging" in the South Sea 
Bubble. The result of Macclesfield's condemnation was 



HISTORICAL SKETCH 155 

that all moneys were ordered to be deposited with the 
Bank of England. Even after the delinquent Masters 
had parted with all their personal effects there was still 
a deficiency in the funds of more than ;^5 1,000. Maccles- 
field's portrait hangs on the staircase leading to the 
Parliament Chambers. 

Upon the resignation of Macclesfield, Peter King, a 
member of our House, but who had been called to the 
Bar by the Middle Temple in 1694, was appointed Speaker 
of the House of Lords, and presiding at the trial, pro- 
nounced the judgment on the fallen Chancellor. A strong 
supporter of the Whigs, upon the accession of George I. 
King had been rewarded with the post of Chief Justice of 
the Common Pleas. 

When Lord Chancellor he was created Baron King of 
Ockham, his beautiful country seat in Surrey, now well 
known to cyclists who frequent the Ripley Road. In the 
Court of Chancery King proved a failure from his 
inexperience of Chancery procedure and ignorance of 
the principles of equity. It was in connection with these 
defects that the Queen said of him, " He was just in the 
law what he had been in the gospel — making creeds upon 
the one without any steady belief and judgment, in the 
other without any settled opinions." 

It was in the reign of George I. that some houses were 
erected stretching from the church porch to the present 
pavement opposite Goldsmith Building. Upon the library 
stairs is a tablet commemorating their foundation, bear- 
ing the date 1717 and the initials of the then Treasurer, 
John Holloway, who died in 1720 and was buried in the 
church. 

Another ornament of our House was Robert Henley, 
who, becoming Attorney-General in 1756, was the follow- 
ing year nominated Lord Keeper of the Great Seal. An 
adherent of the Leicester House party, he was not very 
acceptable to George II., who only created him a peer 



156 THE INNER AND MIDDLE TEMPLE 

that he mig-ht preside at the trial of the Earl of Ferrers 
for the murder of his steward. Upon the accession of 
George III. he was made Lord Chancellor, when the title 
of Lord Keeper, which for a century had leg-ally lost all 
meaning, was finally dropped. A few years later he was 
created Earl of Northington. He also presided as Lord 
High Steward at the trial of Lord Byron for the death of 
Mr. Chaworth in a duel. He died a victim to the gout, 
the result of intemperance, the prevailing vice of his age. 
According- to Lord Eldon he was a g-reat lawyer. 

Charles Pratt, the son of Chief Justice Pratt, was 
called by the Liner Temple in 1738, and was one of that 
numerous band of successful men whose early professional 
prospects were so dark that they nearly abandoned the 
Bar. His chance was given him by Sir Robert Henley, 
who, having contrived to get him retained as his junior 
in a case, feig-ned illness at the hearing and left young- 
Pratt to conduct the case. So successfully did he do so 
that his fortunes were then laid. As early as 1752, in 
defending William Owen for libel, he succeeded in per- 
suading the jury to adopt his view that they were judges 
both of law and fact. As Chief Justice of the Common 
Pleas his independence in the trials connected with Wilkes 
and the N^orth Briton secured him immense popular favour. 
Reynolds painted his portrait for the City, which hangs in 
the Guildhall, and Johnson provided the Latin inscription, 
which describes him as " the zealous supporter of Eng-lish 
liberty by law." 

An amusing story is told of Pratt when on a visit to 
Lord Dacre in Essex. Passing- the village stocks with a 
gentleman notorious for absence of mind, Pratt asked his 
friend to open them that he might see for himself what 
they were like. The friend complied with this request, 
and then sauntering on forgot all about Pratt, who, upon 
asking a villager to release him, was scoffingly told he 
" wasn't set there for nothing." 



HISTORICAL SKETCH 157 

In the House of Lords Pratt, now Lord Camden, 
resisted strenuously the taxation of the American colonies, 
and urged the repeal of the Stamp Act. Upon the 
resignation of his old friend Lord Northington, he was 
appointed Lord Chancellor by the Earl of Chatham. 

The reign of George II. was notable for a momentous 
change in legal procedure. English was substituted for 
Latin in all Common Law pleadings and in all proceedings 
in Court — a change which was violently opposed by the 
special pleaders, who predicted all sorts of evils from the 
use of what they described as the substitution of loose 
English for precise Latin. This change had been made 
under the Commonwealth, and abandoned at the Restora- 
tion, 

The following extract from Dyer's Reports is a good 
example of the extraordinary jargon of bad Latin and 
worse French, eked out with a little English, which, during 
the seventeenth century, did duty for legal language : — 

" Richardson ch. Just, de C. Banc, al Assises at 
Salisbury in summer 1631. first assault per prisoner la 
condemne pur felony que puis son condemnation ject \\\\ 
Brickbat a le dit Justice que narrowly mist and pur ces 
immediately fuit indictment drawn per Noy envers le 
prisoner and son dexter manus amputi and fix al Gibbet 
sur que luy mesme immediatment hange in presence de 
Court." 

Upon the elevation of Charles Talbot to the Woolsack 
in 1734 the ancient revels were revived in the Hall on 
Candlemas Day. After a banquet, Congreve's comedy, 
Love for Love, was performed, followed by Coffey's farce. 
The Devil to Pay. The actors came ready dressed from 
the Haymarket. 

After the plays followed the revels, when the old custom 
of walking round the fire was carried out, the Master of 
the Revels taking the Chancellor and other Benchers by 
the hand. On this occasion the Prince of Wales was 



158 THE INNER AND MIDDLE TEMPLE 

present, but retired after the conclusion of this perform- 
ance. 

On the night of January 4th, 1736, a great fire broke 
out in the Inn, by which more than thirty chambers 
adjoining the Hall were destroyed, together with many 
writings of great value, according to the authority of 
Nichols, the antiquary. 

Another accomplished member of our House was 
Alexander Wedderburn, Lord Loughborough and Earl of 
Rosslyn. 

At first an advocate at the Scotch Bar, he was pro- 
moter and editor of the first Edinburgh Review. Having 
attacked Lockhart, he was called upon to apologise by 
the Court, but refusing, threw down his gown and 
abandoned the Scotch for the English Courts. He was 
called in 1757, and, taking silk, soon forced his way into 
a leading position on the Northern Circuit, in spite of his 
unprofessional conduct. But it was through politics that 
he reached the Woolsack. At first he assumed the 
character of a "patriot" by supporting Wilkes and the 
American colonies, and then suddenly turned, and was 
appointed Solicitor-General by his former opponent. Lord 
North. 

In 1774, by his invective against Franklin before the 
Privy Council, he directly incited the outbreak of the 
War of Independence. This action has been thus 
described : — 

"Sarcastic Sawney, full of spite and hate, 
On modest Franklin pour'd his venal prate ; 
The calm philosopher, without reply, 
Withdrew — and gave his country liberty." 

As Attorney-General he appeared for the Crown against 
the Duchess of Kingston, and his first appearance as 
Lord Chief Justice of the Common Pleas was on the 
trial of the Gordon rioters. Upon Lord Thurlow's dis- 
missal Wedderburn's great ambition was realised. But 



HISTORICAL SKETCH 159 

he had ag-ain to change sides before he could become 
Lord Chancellor. 

Of him Junius wrote: "As for Wedderburn, there is 
something- about him which even treachery cannot trust"; 
and upon his death, in 1805, the King exclaimed : "Then 
he has not left a greater knave behind him in my 
dominions," 

The son of a wigmaker of Canterbury, Charles Abbott, 
although he entered the Middle Temple in 1787, was 
called by the Inner in 1793. 

Commencing as a special pleader, he acquired such a 
reputation that, upon assuming the barrister's gown, he 
at once sprang into a great practice, which was materially 
increased by his book on Merchant Ships and Sea?neii, 
still the leading text-book on maritime law. 

In 1818 he became Lord Chief Justice of the King's 
Bench, and in 1827 Baron Tenterden of Hendon. He 
is said to have been one of the ablest and most impartial 
judges who ever sat on the Bench. 

Henry Hallam, the great constitutional historian, was 
a member of our House. Called to the Bar, he practised 
for some years in the Oxford Circuit, when, on the death 
of his father, in 181 2, he abandoned the profession of 
which he had become independent and devoted himself 
to the study of history. He was a Bencher of the Inn, 
and his arms may be seen in a window of the library, near 
those of Daines Barrington. 

His son, Arthur Henry Hallam, the subject of Tenny- 
son's masterpiece. In Mcmoriam, was also a member of 
our House, having entered in 1832. 

The great poet himself was, as we learn from Canon 
Ainger, a frequent sojourner in the Temple during the 
period 1842 to 1847, when he lodged at No. 2, Mitre 
Court Buildings, as the guest of his friends, Henry 
Lushington and George Stovin Venables. It is also on 
record that once in Mr. Tom Taylor's rooms in Crown 



i6o THE INNER AND xMIDDLE TEMPLE 

Office Row Tennyson took part in a Shakespeare readings, 
and read Florizel to the Perdita of the late Professor 
Blackburn, of Glasgow. 

John Austin, the celebrated jurist and legal philosopher, 
was called to the Bar by our House in 1818. He practised 
for a time as an equity draftsman, and had chambers at 
2, Old Square, Lincoln's Inn. In 1820 he married Miss 
Sarah Taylor, and the young- couple lived in Queen's 
Square, Westminster, close to James Mill, their windows 
overlooking Jeremy Bentham's garden. Their only child, 
the playmate of John Stuart Mill, who became Lady 
Duff Gordon, was born here. A failure at the Bar, and 
unappreciated as a jurist in his lifetime, Austin died a 
disappointed man. 

"If John Austin," Lord Brougham once remarked, 
"had had health, neither Lyndhurst nor I should have 
been Chancellor." 

Baron Parke, a member of our House, is famous, not only 
as a judge and a lawyer, but also as affording a subject for 
a great constitutional controversy. Upon Lord Abinger's 
death he was created a life peer as Baron Wensleydale, 
with the right to sit and vote. This raised the ire of the 
Tory peers, who disputed this right in such ephemeral 
creations. To put an end to the dispute his title was 
made hereditary, but he died without heirs male. The 
title has been revived in the person of Sir Matthew White 
Ridley, late Home Secretary, who married his daughter. 

A great verdict-winner, although no orator, from his 
elevation to the Exchequer till the end of his twenty-two 
years' service on the Bench James Parke enjoyed un- 
rivalled supremacy. In order to distinguish him from 
Sir James Allan Parke, the one was called "St. James's 
Parke," and the other "Green Parke." Once on circuit 
a member slipped off to bed before the rest of the mess, 
so the latter determined to rout him out. Unfortunately 
they mistook the room, and having stripped off the bed- 



HISTORICAL SKETCH i6i 

clothes, to their horror was disclosed the venerable form 
of Baron Parke. 

Serjeant Goulburn endeavoured next morningf to put 
the matter straight. 

"No, no, Brother Goulburn, it was no mistake," said 
the Baron, "for I heard my brother Adams say, ' Let us 
unearth the old fox.' " 

Parke's chambers were at No. 3, King's Bench Walk. 

A good story, probably apocryphal, is told of William 
Fry Channell when at the Bar. Engaged in a shipping 
case, confusion was created by Channell referring to a 
certain ship as the A/ina, and by his opponent as the 
Hannah. " Which is it," asked the perplexed judge, 
"the Anna or the Hannah?'' "It was," replied 
Channell's opponent, "the Hannah, but the 'h' has 
unfortunately been lost in the chops of the channel." 

Channell was called in 1827, and was created one of 
the Barons of the Courts of Exchequer in 1857. " He 
was," says Judge Willis, "a sound lawyer, and I never 
passed a day in his presence without receiving instruction, 
which I trust fitted me for the better discharge of the 
duties of my profession." Channell's chambers were in 
Farrar's Building, now occupied by his son, Mr. Justice 
Channell. 

Commencing life as an attorney in his father's office, 
Thomas Wilde, after twelve years' practice there, entered 
the Inner Temple, by which society he was called in 181 7. 
Three years after his call he was selected as one of the 
counsel for the defence of Queen Caroline. In the Court 
of Common Pleas he soon established the lead. He is 
described by Lord Tenterden as having "industry enough 
to succeed without talent, and talent enough to succeed 
without industry." 

As a Whig he steadily supported the Liberal side in 
the House, and became successively Solicitor- and 
Attorney-General, becoming Lord Chief Justice of the 

M 



1 62 THE INNER AND MIDDLE TEMPLE 

Common Pleas in 1846. Four years later he received 
the Great Seal, with the title of Baron Truro of Bowes. 
His chambers were at No. 7, King-'s Bench Walk. 

A most remarkable career is that of Alfred Henry 
Thesig-er, son of Lord Chelmsford. Called to the Bar 
by our House in 1862, he became "postman" of the 
Court of Exchequer, and took silk in 1872. Five years 
later, upon the recommendation of Earl Cairns, he was 
appointed a Lord Justice of the Court of Appeal, at the 
early age of thirty-nine. At college he distinguished 
himself as a cricketer and an oarsman. He had chambers 
at No. I, Brick Court. 

Another member of our House of a similar type, whose 
untimely death we are now mourning, was Sir Archibald 
Levin Smith, the late Master of the Rolls. Like Alfred 
Thesiger, he brought to the Bench those qualities of 
endurance and resource which bring men to the front 
on the river and the cricket field. In the Oxford and 
Cambridge Boat Race of 1859 young Smith rowed 
"No. 3" in the Light Blue ship. The race started in 
a snowstorm, and the Cambridge boat eventually sank. 
The future Master of the Rolls was the only man in the 
boat unable to swim, and he owed his life to a stranger 
who threw him a lifebuoy. As an exhibition of pluck 
there has been nothing finer in the great annual race. 
Hopelessly behind, Cambridge rowed grimly on, gunwale 
deep, and none harder than Smith, knowing- that the boat 
must sink and that he could not swim. Called to the Bar 
in i860, Smith was raised to the Bench whilst still a stuff- 
gownsman. In the profession Sir Archibald Smith was 
familiarly known as "A. L. " By the public he is best 
remembered as one of the judges on the Parnell Com- 
mission, when it was said that throughout the sitting-s 
Sir Archibald never spoke once, and Mr. Justice Day only 
made one remark. In 1892 Sir Archibald was promoted 
to be a Lord Justice of Appeal, and at the end of 1900 he 




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X 

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7: 



HISTORICAL SKETCH 163 

succeeded Lord Alverstone as Master of the Rolls. To 
great legal knowledge was added shrewdness and sound 
judgment. His stereotyped interruption to counsel spin- 
ning over-ingenious arguments, "That won't do, you 
know," was somewhat disconcerting, but it was said in 
such a kindly manner that none could take offence. 



THE MASTERS OF THE BENCH 

Of the present Masters of the Bench, Hardinge Stanley 
Giffard, Lord Halsbury, as Lord Chancellor holds the 
leading position. Called in 1850, he came to the front 
at the Old Bailey, the Middlesex Sessions, and the South 
Wales Circuit, and became Disraeli's Solicitor-General in 
1875. Appointed Lord Chancellor in 1885, he now holds 
the record, having held this office under four adminis- 
trations. His able and lucid judgments will bear com- 
parison with most of those of his predecessors, and 
prove that a Common Law practice is no bar to the 
Chancellorship. In politics Lord Halsbury is a Tory of 
the Tories, and except upon land registration reform 
nothing is too old-fashioned for him. He has been 
severely attacked for his legal appointments, but in recent 
years at any rate undeservedly so, for he has promoted 
many of his political opponents. His chambers were at 
5, Paper Buildings. His portrait now hangs in the Hall. 

Another distinguished Bencher is the Right Hon. 
William Court Gully, called in i860, and now Speaker 
of the House of Commons for the third time. He was 
a contemporary with Lord Russell and Lord Herschell 
on the Northern Circuit, and in their early days so dismal 
were their prospects that Gully and Herschell determined 
to seek their fortunes abroad. Gully had chambers at 
13, King's Bench Walk. His portrait may be seen in the 
Hall near that of his contemporary, Lord Halsbury. 

Eight years later was called that brilliant scholar and 



1 64 THE INNER AND MIDDLE TEMPLE 

distinguished judge, the Right Hon. Sir Francis Jeune, 
now President of the Probate, Divorce, and Admiralty 
Division of the High Court, whilst the other judge of this 
division, Sir J. Gorell Barnes, was called in 1876. 

Amongst other occupants of the Bench, Benchers of 
our House, are Sir William Grantham, Sir A. M. Channel!, 
son of William Fry Channell; Sir Robert Wright, Sir T. T. 
Bucknill, Sir C. J. Darling, and Sir Edward Ridley. Sir 
Ford North, late a judge of the Chancery Division, is also 
a Bencher of our House. 

To this list of distinguished Benchers who have attained 
judicial rank must now be added Mr. Justice Jelf and Mr. 
Justice Swinfen Eady. Called in 1863, Sir Arthur Jelf has 
succeeded Mr. Justice Day as a judge of the King's Bench. 
His chambers are at No. 9, King's Bench Walk. He 
will long be remembered at the Bar as one of the most 
pertinacious advocates who ever pleaded in the Courts. 
His knowledge of law is profound. Sir Charles Swinfen 
Eady, who now occupies the position lately held by Lord 
Justice Cozens-Hardy as a judge of the Chancery Division, 
has had a remarkable career. Owing entirely to his own 
natural abilities he has forced his way to the front. 
Taking silk in 1893, he became a "special" only two 
or three years ago, and is now the youngest judge on the 
Bench. He carried on his practice from chambers in 
New Square, Lincoln's Inn. 

Other well-known Benchers who have not attained 
High Court rank are Judge William Willis, k.c. , the 
present Treasurer, to whom I have already referred ; 
Mr. F. A. Inderwick, k.c, the doyen of the Divorce 
Court, author of The King's Peace, and editor of the 
Calendar of the Inner Temple Records, to which he has 
added some masterly introductions ; T. Henry Baylis, 
K.c, author of The Temple Church, and judge of the 
Court of Passage, Liverpool ; Judge Lumley Smith, re- 
cently appointed to the City of London Court ; Mr. Fred. 



HISTORICAL SKETCH 



165 



Albert Bosanquet, k.c. , the new Common Serjeant of 
the City; and Mr. Henry Fieldhig- Dickens, K.c, a well- 
known "silk," and son of Charles Dickens the novelist. 
Charles Dickens, although not an inmate of the Temple, 
was an habitue and a lover of its peculiar charms, leaving 
us, like his great contemporary Thackeray, some pictures 
of the Temple that will live with English literature. 




Seal ov the Knights Temtlaks, 1304. 



CHAPTER V 



THE ORDER OF THE COIF 




T 



Old* gatevws 

e lv • place 



HE origin of the Order 
of the Coif cannot be 
traced with any certainty, 
but it probably arose with 
the necessity of even the 
most primitive governments 
for wise men, learned in the 
laws and customs of the 
community, to give their 
advice to the ruling powers. 
Although no doubt closely 
identified with the ecclesias- 
tics, who monopolised all learning, the conteurs or narro- 
tores, who became serjeant counters or narratores banci, 
or Brothers of the Coif, were above all followers of the 
Common Law. Summoned by writ to attend the King in 
Council, they gradually became a recognised order styled 
Servientes Regis ad Legem., and their appointments were 
made by writ, the earliest of which extant occurs in the 
reign of Richard H. From their ranks were selected the 
judges and the itinerant justices. 

Their connection with the Church is seen in the long, 
priest-like robe, with cape furred with lambskin and a hood 
with two lapels. These robes varied from time to time 
and on different occasions. There was the scarlet gown 

1 66 



THE ORDER OF THE COIF 167 

for State functions, the purple for saints' days and 
holidays, the blue-brown and later the silk gown for 
levees, drawing-rooms, and sittings at Nisi Prius, and 
a mustard and murrey, later a violet gown, to be worn 
in Court during Term time. 

The parti-coloured gown was the livery of the royal 
or some noble house, given as a general retainer to a 
Serjeant, and was specially excepted in the statutes from 
Richard II. to Henry VIII. against giving liveries and 
retainers. In Elizabeth's time it was only worn by a 
Serjeant for one year after his creation. 

The colour of their robes gave an opening for the witty 

Jekyll when a dull serjeant was wearying the Court with a 

prosy argument : — 

" The Serjeants are a grateful race, 
Their dress and lantjuagfe show it ; 
Their purple garments conic from Tyre, 
Their arg^umcnts go to it." 

There appears to be a very close connection between 
the initiation of serjeant with that of a Knight Templar. 
The white linen thrown over the head of a serjeant on 
his creation is evidently the white lawn of the Templars. 
Later, it was drawn together into the shape of a skull- 
cap, and later still it was made of silk. With the intro- 
duction of wigs a round black patch, with a white border, 
covering the round hole on the top of the wig, repre- 
sented the coif and the black silk skull-cap worn by the 
Serjeants. 

The black cap, or sentence cap, must not be confused 
with the coif. It was specially designed to cover the coif 
in token of grief when passing sentence of death, and 
this was the only occasion when the coif might be 
covered in Court. 

A further link with the Templars is their common 
worship of St. Thomas of Acre. " On St. Peter's even," 
writes Grafton in his Chronicle, "was kept the Serjeauntes' 



i6S THE INNER AND MIDDLE TEMPLE 

feast at Saint Thomas, with all plentie of vittayle. At 
which feast were made ten Serjeauntes, three out of 
Gray's Inn and three out of Lincoln's Inn, and of every 
of the Templars two. At which were present all the 
Lords and Commons of the Parliament, beside the Mayor 
and Aldermen, and a g-reat number of the Commons of 
the citie of London." 

This St. Thomas was Thomas k Becket. 

When the feasts were held in the Temple Halls the 
Serjeants, in the middle of the feast, went to the Chapel 
of St. Thomas of Acre in Cheapside, built by Thomas k 
Becket's sister after his canonisation, and there offered; 
and then to St. Paul's, where they offered at St. Erken- 
wald's shrine ; then into the body of the church, and 
were there appointed to their pillars by the steward of 
the feast, to which they then returned. 

Although none but priests could offer this rite, it 
continued to be performed by the Serjeants up to the 
Reformation. This practice of allotting pillars continued 
till old St. Paul's was burnt. 

Now the Knights of St. Thomas in Palestine were 
placed at Acre, or Accre, under the Templars in the Holy 
Land, and a chapel dedicated to St. Thomas of Acre 
built for them. At the south end of the cloisters, near 
the Hall door, once stood a chapel dedicated to the same 
saint. 

When chambers, in addition to pillars, became neces- 
sary, the first Inn to be instituted was Scroope's Inn, or 
Serjeants' Place, opposite St. Andrew's Church, Holborn. 
This was deserted as the lawyers spread westwards for 
Faryndon Inn, afterwards Serjeants' Inn, Chancery Lane, 
and Serjeants' Inn, Fleet Street. 

The theory that the coif was invented to cover the 
tonsure of the clerical serjeant who had been forbidden 
to appear in the secular Courts is ingenious, but alto- 
gether improbable. 




SEUJEAXTS' INN, I-LEET STKEET 



THE ORDER OF THE COIF 169 

The presentation of gold ring's, inscribed with suitable 
mottoes, by the new Serjeants to the Sovereign, the Lord 
Chancellor, the judges, and others fidci symbolo^ was a 
very ancient custom retained to the last. 

The Serjeants' Feast was an expensive business for the 
Serjeants. One held in our Hall on October i6th, 1555, 
cost ^667 7^. 7^. — a large sum in those days. It was 
of a sumptuous and remarkable character, one item on 
the menu being "a standing dish of wax, representing 
the Court of Common Pleas artificially made, the charge 
whereof ;^4." 

Whether Philip and Mary were present does not 
appear ; but they were presented with a ring apiece by 
each of the seven new Serjeants, weighing ;^3 6^. 8^. 
each. 

The grand feasts, when largely attended, were held 
at Ely Place, Lambeth Palace, or St. John's Priory at 
Clerkenwell, but these began to give way early in the 
sixteenth century to masques and revels in the halls of 
the Inns. 

By the operation of the Judicature Acts, which no 
longer required the judges to be of the degree of the 
Coif, the Serjeants were, in 1877, as a corporate body 
wound up and their property sold, and unless there is 
some remedial legislation the Order will cease to exist 
with the death of the few surviving members of the 
Brotherhood. 

One reason urged for the retention of the Order is 
that King's Counsel must obtain special leave to appear 
against the Crown. No such permission was required in 
the case of a serjeant, who thus held an independent 
position of great importance. 

SERJEANTS' INN, FLEET STREET 

To the east of Fuller's Rents was a garden, once in the 
occupation of Sir Edward Coke, and subsequently known 



I/O THE INNER AND MIDDLE TEMPLE 

as the "Benchers' Garden." Due north of this garden 
lay Serjeants' Inn, Fleet Street, one of the three hostels 
occupied by the judges and Serjeants. The entrance 
made by Coke from the Temple has been already men- 
tioned ; but the principal entrance is from Fleet Street, 
through a pair of handsome iron gates, in which are 
wrought the arms of the Inn, a dove and a serpent, the 
latter twisted into a kind of true lover's knot. 

This spot became the residence of the Serjeants at least 
as early as the reign of Henry VI., and probably much 
earlier, as the following {description in the lease granted 
by the Dean and Chapter of York in the year 1442 to one 
William Anstrous, citizen and taylor of London, appears 
to show : — " Unum messuagium cum gardino, in parochia 
S. Dunstani in Fleet Street, in suburbio civitatis Lond. 
quod nuper fuit Johannis Rote et in quo Joh. Ellerkos, et 
alii servientes ad legem nuper inhabitarunt. " Anstrous 
is supposed to have acted as steward for the judges, and 
to have occupied some part of the Inn himself. The lease 
was for eighty years at a rent of ten marks. A second 
lease for the same term and at the same rent was granted 
in 1474 to John Wykes, who is stated to have lived in the 
Inn, and is supposed to have held a similar position to that 
of Anstrous. 

In 1523 the Inn was leased direct to Sir Lewis Pollard, 
a Justice of the Common Pleas ; Robert Norwich and 
Thomas Inglefield, the King's Serjeants ; John Newdigate, 
William Rudhale, Humphrey Brown, William Shelley, and 
Thomas Willoughby, Serjeants ; and William Walwyn, 
the King's Auditor in the South for the Duchy of Lancaster, 
for a term of thirty-one years at a rent of 53^. 

Pollard, Rudhale, and Shelley were members of the 
Inner Temple, Inglefield and Brown of the Middle, and 
Norwich and Willoughby of Lincoln's Inn. It was 
Rudhale who "at hys departure lafte a silvour spone 
for the borde of the benchers for a remembraunz in 



THE ORDEK OF THE COIF 171 

custodia of the chief butler " of the Inner Temple on his 
call to the degree of serjeant. 

The whole of the Inn was destroyed in the Great Fire, 
and entirely rebuilt at the expense of the judg-es and 
Serjeants. 

At a Serjeants' feast held in the Middle Temple Hall 
in 1669 each of the seventeen newly created Serjeants 
contributed ^100 to the restoration funds, ^400 being 
deducted for the expenses of the feast. 

In 1670 a fresh lease was granted to the Serjeants for a 
term of sixty years. The new buildings consisted of a 
very fine chapel, hall, and tall brick houses round the 
court. Upon the termination of this lease in 1730 the 
Inn was abandoned by the serjeants, its members uniting 
with their brethren at Serjeants' Inn, Chancery Lane. 

The following entry from the Records of the Inner Temple 

for November 3rd, 1602, shows the position of the serjeants' 

garden on the south side of the court: — "Whereas the 

Judges do request for their better prospect from Serjeants' 

Inn Garden that certain trees near the chambers of Mr. 

Anthony Dyot and Mr. Stapleton, Benchers of this House, 

should be lopped in a reasonable manner ; namely, such 

taken away only as are offensive to the prospect of my 

Lords the Judges from their said garden of Serjeants' 

Inn." This view was finally blocked by the erection of 

No. 3, North, King's Bench Walk, which united the back 

of No. 2 with the original No. 3 against the Friars' Wall. 

Shortly after the departure of the serjeants the Inn was 

again rebuilt, from the desig"ns of Adam, the architect of 

the Adelphi. Upon the site of the old Hall were erected 

the oflices of the Amicable Assurance Society, the 

building shown in the illustration, and still standing. This 

society in 1S65 transferred its business to the Economic, 

which in its turn was supplanted by the Norwich Union 

Assurance Company. The building is now occupied by 

the Chiu'ch of England Sunday School Institute. 



172 THE INNER AND MIDDLE TEMPLE 

Attached to the railings in front of two of the oldest 
houses may still be seen two early eighteenth-century 
iron extinguishers for the links. 

SERJEANTS' INN, CHANCERY LANE 

Although the Serjeants appear to have had lodgings in 
Faryndon's Inn in Chancellor's Lane as early as 141 1, 
this spot was not called Serjeants' Inn until about the 
year 1484. In 1425 it was leased to three judges, 
J. Martin, Jacob Strangwig, and T. Rolf,' in 1440 to 
John Hody and other Serjeants ; and in 1474 to Sir 
Robert Danby, Chief Justice of the Common Pleas. 

Two years later a lease was granted to Sir Thomas 
Grey at a rent of ;£/[ a year, and in 1484 it was again 
leased to the same lessee at the same rent. In the latter 
deed it is described for the first time as '■'' Hospicuun 
vocatiini Serjeants Inne in Chancelors Lane. " 

The freehold was in the possession of the Bishop of 
Ely, and although both prior to 1484 and subsequently 
the lawyers were usually the tenants, frequent inter- 
missions of their tenancy occurred. After one of these 
intermissions the Inn was demised in 1508 to John Mor- 
daunt and Humphrey Coningsby, the King's Serjeants. 

By Charles II. 's time the Hall and buildings had fallen 
into decay, and were rebuilt by Lord Keeper Guilford, 
who had succeeded the Earl of Clarendon in the great 
brick building in Serjeants' Inn, near the corner of 
Chancery Lane. Here, we learn from his brother, Roger 
North, he lived " before his lady began to want her 
health," and here he enjoyed "all the felicity his nature 
was capable of." Having obtained leave for a door to be 
made from his house into Serjeants' Inn Garden, "he 
passed daily with ease to his chambers dedicated to 
business and study. His friends he enjoyed at home, 
and politic ones often found him out at his chambers." 

When Herbert wrote, in 1804, the Inn consisted of two 




SliKJEANTS' INN, ClIANCKRV I.ANE 



THE ORDER OF THE COIF 173 

small courts with the principal entrance in Chancery Lane, 
as now, and an entrance in the second court from Clifford's 
Inn. The building's are described by this writer as 
modern, and the work of the eighteenth century. The 
Inn was again rebuilt, as we now know it, in 1837, by 
Sir Robert Smirke, with the exception of the old Hall. 

Upon the sale of the Inn in 1877 the portraits and 
eng-ravingfs which decorated the walls of the Hall and 
dining-room were presented to the nation by the society, 
and now hang- in the National Portrait Gallery. These 
portraits, many by distinguished artists, are twenty-five 
in number, and of exceptional interest. They comprise 
Sir Edward Coke, painted by Cornelius van Ceulen, 
and reproduced in this volume ; Sir Edward Lyttelton, 
Charles I.'s Lord Keeper ; Sir Matthew Hale ; Sir John 
Maynard, the Protector's Serjeant ; Sir John Pratt, Lord 
Chief Justice of the King's Bench, and father of Lord 
Chancellor Camden ; Lord Chancellor King, by Daniel de 
Coning, in 1720; William Murray, Earl of Mansfield, by 
Richardson ; Lord Chancellor Camden, by Sir Joshua 
Reynolds ; Lord Eldon, by Sir Thomas Lawrence ; Lord 
Chief Justice Denman, and Lords Chancellors Lyndhurst 
and Campbell. 

The Inn was purchased for ^^"60,000 by Serjeant Cox, 
who removed the beautiful old stained glass windows of 
the Hall and Chapel to his residence at Millhill, where 
he built a chamber, a facsimile of the Hall, for their 
reception. 




CHAPTER VI 
THE REVELS. THE INNER TEMPLE 

THE earliest reference 
to the revels in the 
Records of the Inner 
Temple occurs in the year 
1505, when orders were 
made by the Bench re- 
lating to the Master of 
the Revels, the butler, 
marshal, and steward. 

In the middle of the 
sixteenth century similar 
entertainments were in 
vogue at both Oxford and Cambridge, and were evidently 
of ancient standing at that date. Whether these were 
copied from those of the Inns of Court, or whether the 
latter imitated the former, it is now impossible to deter- 
mine. Probably both had a common origin in those 
customs and rites which survived in the English village 
community from prehistoric times. The statutes of 
Trinity College, Cambridge, founded in 1546, contain 
a chapter entitled " De Praefecto Ludorum qui Imperator 
dicitur. " It was under the authority of this officer that 
Latin comedies and tragedies were directed to be exhibited 
in the Hall at Christmas, as well as the Six Spectacula 
and dialogues. 



A Corner of King's Bench Walk. 



174 



THE REVELS. THE INNER TEMPLE 175 

The Imperator was selected from the Masters of Art, 
and he was placed hi authority over the junior members 
of the coUeg-e, to regulate the games and diversions at 
Christmas ; his sovereignty lasted for twelve days. He 
was also appointed to perform similar duties on Candle- 
mas Day. In the audit-book of my own college, Trinity 
College, Oxford, under date 1559, appears a disbursement, 
"Pro prandio Principis Natalicii." This Christmas Prince, 
or Lord of Misrule, corresponds to the Imperator of Cam- 
bridge, and was a common feature in the colleges at 
Oxford until the Reformation, w^hen, as we learn from 
the Athenae Oxonienses of Wood, "such laudable and 
ingenious customs" were regarded as "popish, diabolical, 
and antichristian." 

The earliest revels of which we have any account took 
place at Christmas, 1561, in honour of Robert Dudle}-, 
Earl of Leicester, in recognition of his successful media- 
tion in the dispute with the Middle Temple over Lyon's 
Inn, already mentioned. Long and detailed descriptions 
of these festivities are given by Gerald Legh, in his 
Accedence of Armor u\ published in 1562, and by Uugdale, 
in his Origmes Juridiciales, published in 1666. The 
former work is dedicated "To the honorable assemblie 
of gentlemen in the Inns of Court and Chancery," and 
forms the basis of Dugdale's account of these revels. 
Leicester himself was the chief performer, as the mighty 
Palaphilos, Prince of Sophie, High Constable, Marshal 
of the Knights Templars. Mr. Onslow was his Lord 
Chancellor ; Anthony Stapleton, the Lord Treasurer ; 
Robert Kelway, Lord Privy Seal ; John Fuller, Chief 
Justice of the King's Bench ; William Pole, Chief Justice 
of the Common Pleas ; Roger Manwood, Chief Baron of 
the Exchequer. There was also a Steward of the House- 
hold, a Marshal of the same, and a Chief Butler. 

Christopher Ilatton was Master of the Game, and 
under him were four Masters of the Revels, the Lieutenant 



176 THE INNER AND MIDDLE TEMPLE 

of the Tower, a Carver, a Ranger of the Forest, and a 
Sewer. 

Many of these persons are well-known characters in 
the history of the Inn, and some in the wider sphere. 
Roger Manwood seventeen years later became in fact 
Lord Chief Baron, and Christopher Hatton Lord Chan- 
cellor. 

Gerald Legh describes how he arrived in the Thames 
from the East about half a league from the Temple, in 
the month of December, 1561, and how as he landed he 
was amazed to hear the report of cannons. Upon inquiry 
he found it was a warning shot to the Constable Marshal 
of the Inner Temple to prepare for dinner. Interested by 
the report of these doings, Legh determined to see for 
himself their truth. Betaking himself next day to the 
Temple, and passing through the gates, he found the 
building "nothing costly, but many comly gentlemen of 
face and person," and passing on entered "a Church of 
auncient building, wherein were many monumentes of 
noble personnages armed in Knightly habits, with their 
cotes depainted in auncient shieldes," whereat, as a 
herald, he took pleasure to behold. 

Recognised by the Herald as a "lover of honour," 
Legh was invited to become his guest for the night, and 
so was conducted to the Prince's Office of Arms, where 
lay sundry choice books relating to the business of the 
day. And so to the sound of the drum he passed to the 
gallery in the Hall, whence he saw the Prince sit at table 
with the ambassadors of divers princes. "Before him 
stood the Carver, Sewer, and Cup-bearer, with great 
number of gentlemen wayters attending his person." 
At a table on the right were seated the Lords Steward, 
Treasurer, and Keeper of the Seal of Pallas, with the 
nobility ; and at a table on the left the Treasurer of the 
Household, the Secretary, the Prince's Serjeants-at-Law, 
the four Masters of the Revels, the King of Arms, the 



THE REVELS. THE INNER TEMPLE 177 

Dean of the Chapel, and other gentlemen pensioners. 
Lower down sat the Lieutenant of the Tower, with his 
captains of "foot-bands and shot"; whilst lower still 
were seated the Chief Butler, the Panter, Clerks of the 
Kitchin, Master-Cook of the Privy Kitchin, and fourscore 
guards of the Prince. 

At every course the trumpeters blew "a couragious 
blast, with drum and fyfe," and between whiles "sweet 
harmony of viollens, shakbuts, recorders, and cornettes, 
with other instruments of musicke," prevailed. After 
the first course the Herald enters, and standing- before 
the high table demands a largesse, and the Prince, with 
many compliments, presents him with a gold chain of the 
value of a hundred talents. Supper ended, the tables 
were removed, and the Prince held his court, and upon 
the second entrance of the Herald, ordered him to select 
twenty-four gentlemen for the honour of knighthood. 
The Herald, in obedience to this command, retires, and 
re-enters with the gentlemen of his choice, "apparelled 
in long white vestures, with eche man a scarfe of Pallas 
colours," and presents them to the Prince in the order of 
their "ancienty," and then discourses at large on the 
virtues of the Order of Pallas. 

Of the subsequent proceedings we have no knowledge, 
but doubtless the fun was kept up with feastings and 
revels till New Year's Day. 

In the work already referred to Dugdale gives some 
particulars of these feasts and pastimes. On Christmas 
Day, after service in the church, breakfast was served in 
the Hall, with brawn, mustard, and malmsey. 

At dinner the first course consisted of "a fair and larce 
bore's head upon a silver platter, with minstrulsye." 
Napkins and trenchers, with spoons and knives, were 
supplied to every table. The dinner ticket was \zd., 
which, if the subsequent course were equal to the first, 
seems extremely moderate. 

N 



178 THE INNER AND MIDDLE TEMPLE 

After eveningf service in the church, supper similar to 
the dinner was served in the Hall. On St. Stephen's 
Day the youngfer members of the House wait at dinner 
upon the seniors, and then dine themselves. 

"After the first course served in," writes Dugdale, 
"the Constable-Marshall cometh into the Hall, arrayed 
with a fair, rich, compleat harneys, white and bright, and 
gilt, with a nest of feathers of all colours upon his crest 
or helm, and a gilt pole-axe in his hand ; to whom is 
associate the Lieutenant of the Tower, armed with a fair 
white armour, a nest of feathers in his helm, and a like 
pole-axe in his hand ; and with them sixteen trumpetters, 
four drums and fifes going in rank before them ; and with 
them attendeth four men in white harneys, from the middle 
upwards, and halberds in their hands, bearing on their 
shoulders the Tower : which persons, with the drums, 
trumpets, and musick, go three times about the fire. ^ 
Then the Constable-Marshall, after two or three curtesies 
made, kneeleth down before the Lord Chancellor, behind 
him the Lieutenant ; and they kneeling, the Constable- 
Marshall pronounceth an oration of a quarter of an hour's 
length, thereby declaring the purpose of his coming, and 
that his purpose is to be admitted to his lordship's service." 
To which the Lord Chancellor answered that he would 
take further advice thereon. 

"Then the Constable-Marshall standing up, in sub- 
missive manner delivered his naked sword to the Steward, 
who giveth it to the Lord Chancellor, and thereupon the 
Lord Chancellor willeth the Marshall to place the Constable- 
Marshall in his seat; and so he doth, with the Lieutenant 
also in his seat or place. During this ceremony the Tower 
is placed beneath the fire." 

How this is accomplished is not very apparent, 

"Then cometh the Master of the Game apparelled in 
green velvet, and the Ranger of the Forest also, in a 
green suit of satten, bearing in his hand a green bow 



THE REVELS. THE INNER TEMPLE 179 

and divers arrows, with either of them a hunting horn 
about their necks ; blowing- together three blasts of 
venery, they pace round the fire three times. Then the 
Master of the Game maketh three curtsies as aforesaid ; 
and desireth to be admitted into his service, etc. All this 
time the Ranger of the Forest standeth directly behind 
him. Then the Master of the Game standeth up." 

At the conclusion of this ceremony a huntsman entered 
the Hall "with a fox and a purse-net; with a cat, both 
bound at the end of a staff; and with them nine or ten 
hounds, with the blowing of hunting horns." The fox 
and the cat were then hunted by the dogs "and killed 
beneath the fire." How this extraordinary execution was 
performed does not appear. 

The " huntinge night," held annually in Lincoln's Inn 
and mentioned in the Black Book in the reign of 
Elizabeth, was evidently the occasion for a similar per- 
formance. When the second course had been served, 
the Common Serjeant delivered "a plausible speech" to 
the Lord Chancellor and his company, showing how 
necessary it was to have such oilicers for the "better 
honor and reputation of the commonwealth," 

He was supported in this by the King's Serjeant-at-Law, 
and then "the ancientest of the masters of the revels" 
sang a song with the assistance of all present. 

The following lines from Hone's Year Book may be 
taken as the type of the " ancientest's " song: — 

" Bring; hither the bowle, 

The brimming: brown bowle, 
And quaff the rich juice rig;ht merrilie ; 

Let the wine cup g-o round 

Till the solid ground 
Shall quake at the noise of our revelrie. 

" Let wassail and wine 

Tiioir pleasures combine, 
While we quaff the rich juice right merrilie ; 

Let us drink till we die, 

When the saints we relie 
Will mingle their songs with our revelrie." 



i8o THE INNER AND MIDDLE TEMPLE 

After supper, which was served with Hke solemnity as 
on Christmas Day, the Constable Marshal again presented 
himself with drums before him, mounted on a scaffold 
borne by four men, and going thrice round the hearth he 
shouted, "A lord, a lord"; then descending from his 
elevation, and having danced awhile, he called his court 
severally by name in this manner : — 

"Sir Francis Flatterer, of Fowleshurst, in the county 
of Buckingham. 

"Sir Randle Backabite, of Rascall Hall, in the county 
of Rabchell. 

"Sir Morgan Mumchance, of Much Monkery, in the 
county of Mad Popery," and others. This done, the 
lord of misrule "addressed" himself to the banquet, 
which, when ended, with some " minstralsye," mirth, and 
dancing, every man departed to rest. "At every mess, 
a pot of wine allowed : every repast was vi^'." 

On St. John's Day (upon the morrow) the Lord of 
Misrule was abroad by seven o'clock in the morning, 
and if any of his officers were missing he repaired to 
their chambers and compelled them to attend him to a 
breakfast of brawn, mustard, and malmsey. 

"After breakfast ended, his lordship's power was in 
suspense until his personal presence at night, and then 
his power was most potent." At dinner and supper 
was observed the "diet and service" performed on 
St. Stephen's Day. After the second course was served, 
the King's Serjeant, " oratour like," declared the disorder 
of the Constable Marshal and Common Serjeant, the 
latter of whom "defended" himself and his companion 
"with words of great efficacy." To these the King's 
Serjeant replied, they rejoined, and whoso was found 
faulty was sent to the Tower. 

On the Thursday following the Chancellor and company 
partook of dinner of roast beef and venison pasties, and 
at supper of " mutton and hens roasted." 



THE REVELS. THE INNER TEMPLE i8i 

On New Year's Day breakfast and dinner were served 
with the same solemnities as on Christmas Eve, and to 
the great banquet were invited all the members of the 
Inns of Court and Chancery to see a play and a masque, 
the ladies being accommodated with seats in extem- 
porised galleries and partaking of the banquet in the 
library. 

To the Christmas revels at Gray's Inn in 1594 an 
ambassador from the Temple had been invited. On 
Holy Innocents' Day he arrived and presented his cre- 
dentials. But *' there arose such a disordered tumult and 
crowd upon the stage that there was no opportunity to 
effect what was intended : there came so great a number 
of worshipful personages upon the stage that might not 
be displaced " that the performance had to be abandoned, 
and the Temple ambassador retired in a huff. Never- 
theless a Comedy of Errors was performed by the players 
"after dancing and revelling with gentlewomen." On a 
subsequent evening the masque was held in the presence 
of Elizabeth, and peace was made with the Temple 
ambassador. 

• Revels were also held on other occasions. In 1605 we 
find payments in the accounts of 45. for four staff torches 
for the revels on the Saturday before Candlemas Day, 
and of ;^5 for a play on the latter day. Similar items 
for torches for the revels on St. Thomas's Eve, Candle- 
mas Day, and Saturday nights, the 5th of November, 
and William III.'s birthday appear as late as 1697. But 
the taste for gross feeding and childish burlesque had 
been gradually undermined, and early in the reign of 
Charles I. the revels began to give way to the masque, 
although they survived with diminished glory and at 
lengthy intervals till the commencement of the eighteenth 
century. In 1687, for instance, they were ordered by the 
Bench to be discontinued, since they had "for many 
years past degenerated into licentiousness and disorder." 



1 82 THE INNER AND MIDDLE TEMPLE 

In 1708, however, the Bench ordered the revels to be 
revived. 

THE MIDDLE TEMPLE 

The revels at the Middle Temple were very similar to 
those at the sister Inn. Those which took place at 
Christmas, 1629, when Bulstrode Whitelocke was chosen 
Master of the Revels, have been described by Mr. R. H. 
Whitelocke in his Memoirs of Bulstrode Whitelocke. 

In the reign of Charles I. these festivities commenced 
at All-Hallow-Tide, which was considered the beg-inning 
of Christmas. In preparation for the business of the 
season, the younger Templars used to meet at St. Dun- 
stan's Tavern to elect the officers and to arrange all the 
details of the proceedings. 

On All-Hallow's Day the master, young Whitelocke, 
then four-and-twenty, entered the Hall at the head of 
sixteen revellers. All were proper, handsome young 
gentlemen, clad in rich suits, shoes and stockings, and 
hats with great feathers. The master led them in his bar 
gown, with a white staff in his hand, the musicians playing 
before them. The entertainment was opened with the old 
masques, after which they danced the Brawls, and then 
the master took his seat, while the revellers flaunted 
through galliards, corantos, French and country dances 
till a late hour. As might be expected, this spectacle 
drew a great company of ladies and gentlemen of quality, 
and when the dancing came to an end an adjournment 
was made to Sir Sidney Montague's chamber, lent for 
the purpose to the Master of the Revels. 

A short descriptive account of the master at the 
Christmas revels in 1635 is given by Warton in his 
History of English Poetry. A Christmas Prince or Master 
of the Revels having been appointed, he was attended by 
his Lord Keeper, Lord Treasurer, with eight white staves, 
the Captains of his Band of Pensioners and of his Guard, 



THE REVELS. THE MIDDLE TEMPLE 183 

and two Chaplains. The latter had been so seriously 
impressed with an idea of his regal dignity, that when 
they preached before him on the preceding Sunday, on 
ascending the pulpit they saluted him with three low 
bows. He dined both in Hall and in his privy chamber 
under a cloth of estate. The poleaxes for his Gentlemen 
Pensioners were borrowed from Lord Salisbury. Lord 
Holland, his temporary Justice in Eyre, supplied him with 
venison on demand ; and the Lord Mayor and Sheriffs of 
London with wine. On Twelfth Day, at going to church, 
he received many petitions which he gave to his Master of 
Requests ; and like other kings he had a favourite, whom, 
with other gentlemen of high quality, he knighted on 
returning from church. His expenses, all from his own 
purse, amounted to ^1^2, 000. 

After his deposition from this mock dignity he was 
knighted by the King at Whitehall. 



CHAPTER VII 



THE MASQUE 




I 



Old \X/t-nTEHAi!=, gate- 



N social functions, dear 

to the heart of London 

society, the Temple has for 

centuries held a distinguished 

position. 

The masque, an entertain- 
ment of great antiquity, at- 
tained its highest phase 
during the late Tudor and 
earlier Stuart reigns. With 
few exceptions, it was a 
spectacular rather than a dramatic exhibition. Milton's 
Comus stands almost alone. Literary excellence was not 
a strong feature of the masque. Gorgeous costumes, 
graceful dancing, songs, and music were the principal 
characteristics, and so it was only princes and rich societies 
who could indulge in the extravagance of a masque. 

When the taste for the rude and boisterous festivities of 
Christmas began to pall with the gentlemen of the Inns 
of Court, the masque readily supplanted them. The first 
of such entertainments in the Temple appears to have 
taken place at Christmas, 1605-6. 

One of the most interesting took place upon the marriage 
of Princess Elizabeth to the Count Palatine of the Rhine 
on St. Valentine's Day, 1612. The Inns of Court were 
not behind in the general rejoicings. Lincoln's Inn and 

184 



THE MASQUE 185 

the Middle Temple joined in the presentation of one 
masque, and the Inner Temple and Gray's Inn in that of 
another. The masque of the latter is of the greater 
interest from the fact that it was written by a member of 
our House, Francis Beaumont the dramatist. 

The members of the two societies met at Ely Place, and 
thence the procession started, crossing London Bridge, 
and taking boat at Winchester House in Southwark for 
Whitehall. As they passed the Temple Stairs in the 
royal barge they were received with a salute of cannon. 
They were accompanied by illuminated barges and boats, 
some of which held bands of music. Owing to some 
mistake or to the caprice of James, the masque was not 
performed that night, but postponed to the following 
Saturday, when it took place with great ^clat. As was 
customary, the masquers invited the ladies of the Court 
to participate in the dances, thus lending grace, colour, 
and piquancy to the display. The gentlemen of the Inns 
afterwards supped with the King. 

This masque was dedicated by Beaumont to Sir Francis 
Bacon, who represented Gray's Inn in its preparation. 
Beaumont was then living with his friend and collaborator 
Fletcher on the Bankside near the Globe Theatre. 

From the Black Books of Lincoln's Inn we learn that 
the ordering of the masque given by the Middle Temple 
and Lincoln's Inn was entrusted to Inigo Jones, and p^ioo 
paid by Sir Edward Phelips, m.k., on behalf of the Middle 
Temple, to him. The following lines are the concluding 
song of the masque : — 

" Peace and silence be the guide 
To the man and to the bride ! 
If there be a joy yet new 
In marriage, let it fall on you, 

That all the world may wonder ! 
If we stay, we should do worse, 
And turn our blessing to a curse, 
By keeping you asunder." 



1 86 THE INNER AND MIDDLE TEMPLE 

The next performance of which we have any record 
was that of The Inner Temple Masque^ from the pen of 
WilHam Browne, already referred to as the author of 
Britannia's Pastorals, and the friend of Selden. So great 
was the crowd to witness this graceful piece that some 
damag'e was done to the buildings outside, as we learn 
from the petition of the chief cook for compensation for 
his chamber in the cloisters, by reason that " a great part 
thereof and the chimney therein was, at Christmas was a 
twelvemonth, broken down by such as climbed up at the 
windows of the Hall." This would be Christmas 1614-15. 
Browne's dedication to his Inn, cited by Mr. Inderwick, 
is interesting. 

" Gentlemen, 

"I give you but your owne. If you refuse to foster 

it, I knowe not who will. By your meanes it may live. 

If it degenerate in kinde from those other the Society 

has produced, blame yourselves for not seeking a happier 

muse. I knowe it is not without faultes, yet such as your 

loves, or at least Poetica Licentia (the common salve), will 

make tolerable. What is good in it, that is yours ; what 

bad, myne ; what indifferent, both ; and that will suffice, 

since it was done to please ourselves in private by him 

that is << All 

*' All yours, 

"W. Browne." 

At Christmas, 1618-19, The Masque of Heroes, by 
Thomas Middleton, was performed by nine of the 
gentlemen of the House, assisted by Joseph Taylor and 
William Rowley, and others from AUeyne's company at 
the Fortune Theatre. Both Taylor and Rowley had 
formerly acted with Shakespeare and Burbage in the 
Globe and Blackfriars companies. 

It was from Ely Place, too, that the still more 
celebrated masque and anti-masque, given in 1633 by 
the Four Inns of Courts, was arranged, and hence it 
started past Holborn Bars, down Chancery Lane, and 



THE MASQUE 187 

along- the Strand to Whitehall. Two members from each 
: Inn formed the committee of management. The Inner 
I was represented by Sir Edward Herbert and John Selden, 
just released from prison; the Middle by Bulstrode White- 
locke, a Bencher, afterwards Lord Keeper and ambassador 
to Sweden under the Commonwealth, a man who through 
all the changes of government retained the respect of 
all parties. Amongst other valuable records of more 
momentous events, Whitelocke has left a detailed account 
of this particular affair ; his colleague was Edward Hyde, 
Lord Chancellor and historian. Mr. Attorney-General 
Noy, of ship-money fame, and Mr. Gerling represented 
Lincoln's Inn, and Sir John Finch and another unknown 
nember, Gray's Inn. Whitelocke had the direction of the 
lusical part of the entertainment. " I made choice," he 
says, "of Mr. Simon Ivy, an honest and able musician, 
of excellent skill in his art, and of Mr. Lawes, to compose 
the airs, lessons, and songs for the masque, and to be 
master of all the music under me." Each of these 
gentlemen received the substantial fee of ^100. 

Ivy was a well-known composer, and William Lawes 
an accomplished musician, called by Charles "the father 
of musick." He was shot during the siege of Chester. 
It was his brother Henry who wrote the music for 
Milton's Comas and for Davenant's entertainment at 
Rutland House in 1656. 

The music appears to have been on a large scale, for 
Whitelocke speaks of " English, French, Italians, Germans, 
and other masters of music ; forty lutes at one time, 
beside other instruments in concert." 

On the night of Candlemas Day, The Triumph of Peace 
(such was the title of the masque) was presented to the 
Court. About 120 members of the four societies, mounted 
on richly caparisoned steeds and attended by over 300 
servants, took part in the procession. 

With the aid of Whitelocke's Memorials we may take 



1 88 THE INNER AND MIDDLE TEMPLE 

our places in the crowd which Hned the streets from 
Ely Place to the old Gatehouse at Whitehall, and view 
the spectacle : — 

" The first that marched were twenty footmen in scarlet 
liveries, with silver lace, each one having his sword by 
his side, a baton in one hand and a lighted torch in the 
other. These were the marshal's men, who made way, 
and were about the marshal waiting his commands. 
After them, and sometimes in the midst of them, came 
the marshal, then Mr. Barrel, afterwards knighted by the 
King. He was of Lincoln's Inn, an extraordinary proper 
gentleman. He was mounted on one of the King's best 
horses and richest saddles, and his own habit was 
exceeding rich and glorious ; his horsemanship very 
gallant ; and besides his marshal's men he had two 
lackeys, who carried torches by him, and a page in 
livery that went by him carrying his cloak. After him 
followed one hundred gentlemen of the Inns of Court, 
twenty-five chosen out of each House, of the most proper 
and handsome young gentlemen of the societies, every 
one of them mounted on the best horses and with 
best furniture that the King's stables and the stables of 
all the noblemen in town would aff'ord, and they were 
forward on this occasion to lend them to the Inns of 
Court. Every one of these gentlemen was in very rich 
clothes, scarce anything but gold and silver lace to be 
seen of them ; and each gentleman had a page and 
two lackeys waiting on him in his livery by his horse's 
side. The lackeys carried torches and the page his 
master's cloak. The richness of their apparel and furni- 
ture, glittering by the light of a multitude of torches 
attending on them, with motion and stirring of their 
mettled horses, and the many and various gay liveries 
of their servants, but especially the personal beauty and 
gallantry of the handsome young gentlemen, made the most 
glorious and splendid showthat was ever beheld in England. 

"After the horsemen came the anti-masquers, and as 
the horsemen had their music — about a dozen of the best 
trumpeters proper for them and in their livery sounding 
before them — so the first anti-masque, being of cripples 
and beggars on horseback, had their music of keys and 



THE MASQUE 189 

tongs and the like, snapping- and yet playing in concert 
before them. 

"These beggars were also mounted, but on the poorest, 
leanest jades that could be gotten out of the dirt carts or 
elsewhere, and the variety and change from such noble 
music and gallant horses as went before them, unto their 
proper music and pitiful horses, made both of them more 
pleasing. . . . After the beggars' anti-masque came men 
on horseback playing upon pipes, whistles, and instru- 
ments, sounding notes like those of birds of all sorts 
and in excellent concert, and were followed by the anti- 
masque birds. This was an owl in an ivy-bush, with 
many several sorts of other birds in a cluster about the 
owl, gazing as it were upon her. These were little boys 
put into covers of the shapes of those birds, rarely filled, 
and sitting on small horses, with footmen going by them 
with torches in their hands, and there were some besides 
to look after the children, and this was very pleasant 
to the beholders. After this anti-masque came other 
musicians on horseback, playing upon bagpipes, horn- 
pipes, and such kind of northern music, speaking the 
following anti-masque of projectors to be of the Scotch 
and northern quarters ; and these, as all the rest, had 
many footmen with torches waiting upon them. First in 
this anti-masque rode a fellow upon a little horse with a 
great bit in his mouth, and upon the man's head was 
a bit with headstall and reins fastened, and signified a 
projector, who begged a patent that none in the kingdom 
might ride their horses but with such bits as they should 
buy of him. Then came another fellow with a bunch of 
carrots upon his head and a capon upon his fist, describ- 
ing a projector, a patent of monopoly, as the first inventor 
of the art to feed capons fat with carrots, and that none 
but himself might make use of that invention and have 
the privilege for fourteen years, according to the statute. 
Several other projectors were in like manner personated 
in the anti-masque, and it pleased the spectators the 
more because by it an information was covertly given 
to the King of the unfitness and ridiculousness of those 
projects against the law, and the Attorney Noy, who had 
most knowledge of them, had a great hand in this anti- 
masque of projectors." 



I90 THE INNER AND MIDDLE TEMPLE 

Next followed chariots with musicians, chariots with 
heathen gods and goddesses, and lastly four smaller 
chariots containing the grand masquers, four from each 
Inn. Gray's Inn led the way with its chariot of silver and 
crimson, "painted richly with these colours, even the 
wheels of it, most artificially laid on, and the carved work 
of it as curious for that art, and it made a stately show. 
It was drawn with four horses, all on breast, and they 
were covered to their heels all over with cloth of tissue of 
the colours of crimson and silver, huge plumes of red and 
white feathers on their heads and buttocks ; the coachman's 
cap and feather, his long coat, and his very whip and cushion 
of the same stuff and colour. In this chariot sat the four 
grand masquers of Gray's Inn, their habits, doublets, 
trunk-hose and caps of most rich cloth of tissue, and 
wrought as thick with silver spangles as they could be 
placed, large white silk stockings up to their trunk hose, 
and rich sprigs in their caps, themselves proper and 
beautiful young gentlemen. On each side of the chariot 
were four footmen in liveries of the colour of the chariot, 
carrying huge flambeaux in their hands, which with the 
torches gave such a lustre to the paintings, the spangles 
and habits, that hardly anything could be invented to 
appear more glorious." 

The chariots of the other Inns each sported their re- 
spective colours. Those of the Middle Temple were silver 
and blue, but those of the Inner and Lincoln's Inn are 
not mentioned. 

After struggling with difficulty through the crowded 
streets the procession reached Whitehall. So crowded 
too was the banqueting hall that the King and Queen 
could scarce get to their window to view the spectacle in 
the street, and so delighted were they "with the noble 
bravery of it, they sent to the Marshall to desire that the 
whole show might fetch a turn about in the tiltyard," 

Then the masque, the great event of the day, com- 



THE MASQUE 191 

menced, and was, says Whitelocke, "incomparably per- 
formed in the dancing, speeches, music, and scenes." 

Next the Queen and great Court ladies were led out to 
dance by the chief masquers, and the fun was kept up till 
morning-, when royalty retired, and the gentlemen of the 
Inn sat down to a stately banquet. 

So delighted was the Queen that she must needs see the 
show and masque over again, and so the Lord Mayor 
invited the Court and the Inns of Court masquers to the 
City, where he entertained them with great magnificence 
at Merchant Taylors' Hall. 

In fact, Henrietta is reported to have said that she took 
the masque " as a particular respect to herself," alluding, 
no doubt, to its being a demonstration against Prynne's 
Histrio Mastix, in which he had inveighed against her. 

The total cost to the four societies exceeded ^21,000. 

Dramatic plays had, however, been gaining in favour, 
and at the Restoration had entirely supplanted the masque. 
In 1887 the Masque of Flowers was successfully revived, 
both at Gray's Inn and in our own Hall, and it is the only 
instance since the seventeenth century. This was first 
produced at Whitehall by the gentlemen of Gray's Inn in 
honour of the marriage of the Earl of Somerset and Lady 
Francis in 161 3, and was dedicated to Sir Francis Bacon. 



CHAPTER VIII 

STAGE PLAYS 

** f~\^ Twelfth Night of 1560, or 1561," writes Mr. 
\_y Inderwick, k.c, " the first dramatic performance 
of one of the earliest dramas of our country took place 
in the Inner Temple Hall." The title-page of the first 
edition of this play is worth reproducing : — 

" ®IjE Cragc&ie of ©orlioiruc iuljErEof SljrEC ^rtes Inere 
iurnttcn bv Eljamas iHortonc, an& tlje tlno lastc bv ^bomas 
.^ackiiille .^ett fortljc as tljc same toas sljctncit before tbe 
(I^uccnes most excellent ittaiestic in Ijer Ijigljness Court of 
oEljiteljaU tljc hiii bav of |(anuarjt ^nno gomini 1561 
— ^g tlje gentlemen of Eljjnner Cemple in ^anban, 
Umpr^ntctr at tljc .^itjne of tlje faueon bn Mtilliam ©riffitlj 
^ are to be sol&c at tijc sljop in .^aint ^unstane'a €bnvcb- 
liartre in tbe Mest of lEontron JVnno 1565. ^eptemb : '2'2." 

Thomas Norton became a distinguished jurist and 
writer, as well as a well-known public man. Thomas 
Sackville, afterwards Lord Buckhurst, and ultimately 
Earl of Dorset, was also a notable figure in public 
affairs. Both were members of the Inner Temple. 

In 1572 Sackville sat as one of the peers on the trial 
of Thomas Howard, Duke of Norfolk, whose daughter. 
Lady Margaret, afterwards married Robert, his eldest 
son. It fell to Sackville's lot to convey to Mary Queen 
of Scots the sentence of her death, when Mary, as a 
token of gratitude for the feeling manner in which he 

192 




h. 






STAGE PLAYS 193 

discharged this distressing" duty, presented him with a 
piece of furniture from her chapel. Upon this is a 
carving of the Procession to Calvary. It is still pre- 
served at Knole. 

Sackville also became Chancellor of Oxford University, 
his unsuccessful competitor being Robert Devereux, Earl 
of Essex, at whose trial he subsequently presided as Lord 
High Steward. The introduction to that curious poem, 
the Mirrouy of Magistrates, was written by Sackville. 
To him Spenser dedicated his Faery Queen, eulogising 
his patron in the following' lines : — 

"Whose learned muse hath writ her own record 
In golden verse, worthy hiiinortal fame." 

Two of Sackville's sons were admitted together in 
1585. Both became soldiers of fortune. Thomas, the 
elder, distinguished himself in the field against the Turks, 
and lived to a green old age, whilst William lost his life, 
in 1589, in the service of Henry IV. of France. 

Thomas Norton, the son of a London citizen, was 
successively member of Parliament for Gatton, Berwick- 
on-Tweed, and the City. He was counsel to the Stationers' 
Company, and in 1571 became Remembrancer of London. 
In 1584 he was committed to the Tower on a charge of 
treason, and died the same year at his country seat, 
Sharpenhoe, in Bedfordshire. Early in life he had been 
tutor to the children of his patron, the Protector Somerset. 
He married Margery, third daughter of Archbishop 
Cranmer. 

Upon the first performance of Norton's and Sackville's 
play Christopher Hatton was Master of the Revels, and 
it was ordered by the Bench that " Master Hatton should 
have a special admission, without payment, in respect 
of his charges as the master of the game." 

At the second performance, held at Whitehall, he 
appears to have taken a leading part, since he attracted 
o 



194 THE INNER AND MIDDLE TEMPLE 

the attention of Queen Elizabeth by his graceful dancing- 
and became her prime favourite, some say even her 
paramour. In 1577 he was appointed Vice-Chamberlain, 
and in 1587 Lord Keeper of the Great Seal, and from 
thenceforth became known as "the Dancing Chancellor." 
Of him, in his manor-house at Stoke Pogis, Gray wrote 
the following lines : — - 

" Full oft within the spacious walls 

When he had fifty summers o'er him, 
The grave Lord Keeper led the brawls, 
The seal and maces danc'd before him. 

" His bushy beard and shoe-strings green, 
His high-crown'd hat and satin doublet, 
Moved the stout heart of England's Queen, 

Though Pope and Spaniard could not trouble it." 

In the House of Commons Hatton was Elizabeth's 
mouthpiece, and on one occasion expressed her dis- 
approval of an apparent contempt committed by the 
House in appointing a public fast to be held in the 
Temple Church without taking her pleasure. 

There can be little doubt that Hatton was one of the 
joint authors of Tancred and Gismmid, produced in the 
Inner Temple Hall in 1568, and at which Elizabeth was 
almost certainly present. When Lord Chancellor, we 
find Hatton dating his letters " Ffrom Ely Place in 
Holborne " in 1590. 

This was the famous Palace of the Bishops of Ely, 
already mentioned, with its still more famous garden. 
Bishop Cox having been forced to grant a lease of a 
portion of it to Sir Christopher Hatton, stipulated for the 
right of walking therein and of gathering twenty bushels 
of roses annually. This was not a large amount for rent, 
but once in Hatton laid out large sums in repairs and 
building — sums chiefly borrowed from his royal mistress. 
Having thus expended his money, or rather the Queen's, 
on another's property, he induced the latter to command 



STAGE PLAYS 195 

the Bishop to demise the lands to her until the money 
so expended should be repaid. The g"ood Bishop replied 
that "in his conscience he could not do it, being a piece 
of sacrilige. " 

But conscience or no conscience, he had to yield to the 
inevitable. 

His successor, Dr. Heton, was equally unwilling to carry 
on the arrang-ement, but was soon brought to book by 
the following very characteristic letter from the Queen : — 

"Proud Prelate! — I understand you are backward in 
complying with your agreement : but I would have you 
know that I, who made you what you are, can unmake 
you ; and if you do not forthwith fulfil your engagement, 
by God I will immediately unfrock you. 

" Elizabeth." 

The "famous garden" is now represented by Hatton 
Garden, the resort of dealers in diamonds and precious 
stones, and the Palace by Ely Place now covered with 
lawyers' offices, in one of which may be found the well- 
known society solicitor. Sir George Lewis. 

Whether Shakespeare ever actually took any part in 
the representation of his plays in our Hall, or that of the 
Middle Temple, is unknown, though not improbable. 
One undoubted link, however, there is with our House. 
William Underbill, admitted a student to our Inn in 1551, 
purchased New Place, Stratford-on-Avon, and this was 
sold by his eldest son to William Shakespeare upon his 
retirement from London. 

With the other great songster of our race, John 
Milton, our House had a stronger link in the person of 
Sir Christopher Milton, brother of the poet. He was 
called in 1640, became a Bencher, Baron of the Ex- 
chequer, 1686, and a Justice of the Common Pleas, 1687. 
In one of the stained glass windows in the Hall there 
is a portrait of Sir Christopher, to remind us not so much 
of the successful lawyer as of the blind poet. 



196 THE INNER AND MIDDLE TEMPLE 

From 1605 to 1640 plays were performed in our Hall 
twice a year, at AUhallows and Candlemas, with the 
exception of a short interval, when " Anticks or puppits " 
were substituted on account of the "great disorder and 
scurrility brought into this House by lewd and lascivious 
plays." In September, 1642, stage plays were banned 
by the Government. 

Of the names of these plays we have no record, but 
we know that they were performed by "The King's 
Majesty's Servants," "The Cockpit Players," and "The 
Blackfryars Players." Shakespeare, Burbage, Hemming, 
and Condell belonged to the first, but there is no mention 
of this company till the play on All Saints' Day, 1614, 
a year and a half before Shakespeare's death. The 
only play referred to by name is the Oxford Tragedye^ 
in mistake, thinks Mr. Inderwick, for The Yorkshire 
Tragedy, which had just been produced at the Globe, and 
was at one time wrongly attributed to Shakespeare. 

After the Restoration the taste for the Shakespearean 
drama entirely died away, owing to the fact, according to 
Mr. Inderwick, that Shakespeare, being comparatively 
without liberal education, and not having had the advan- 
tage of mixing from his youth with gentlemen and gentle- 
men's sons, had not acquired the art of writing to the 
taste of the class from which the Inns of Court were 
drawn. A more probable reason appears to be the re- 
action in favour of a lower standard of thought in art as 
in everything else. 

Whatever the cause, the fact remains that out of the 
twenty plays produced in our Hall from the accession of 
Charles II. to the flight of his brother not one can claim 
Shakespeare as its author. 

Beaumont and Fletcher are responsible for The Night 
Walker, or The Little Thief, played in 1664 ; The Little 
French Laioyer, in 1668 ; the Philaster, or Love Lyes a 
Bleeding, in 167 1 ; The Spanish Curate, in 1675 and 1686 ; 



STAGE PLAYS 197 

The Scornful Lady, in 1675 ; and Rule a Wife and Have a 
Wife, in 1682. 

One only, the Epicene, or The Silent Woman, is by Ben 
Jonson. This favourite comedy was produced at Candle- 
mas, 1663, 

The Brothers, by James Shirley, appeared in 1663, and 
Changes, or Love in a Maze, by the same writer, the 
following' year. 

Sir George Etheridge is the author of The Comical 
Revenge, or Love in a Tub, produced in 1667, and de- 
scribed by Pepys as a " silly play." 

In 1669 Secret Love, or The Maiden Queen, by John 
Dryden, was acted by the King's players, of whom sweet 
Nell Gwynne, then about nineteen years of age, and living 
in Maypole Alley, out of Drury Lane, was the chief attrac- 
tion. She also appeared on Twelfth Night, 1682, in Rule 
a Wife and Have a Wife. In our accounts is an item of 
^i "for sweetmeats for Madam Gwinn." 

Other plays by the same author were Sir Martin 
Mar- All, played on Allhallows Eve, 1670, and The 
Spanish Friar in 1687. 

On two occasions, in 1670 and in 1685, appeared The 
Committee, by Sir Robert Howard, whose sister, Lady 
Elizabeth Howard, married John Uryden. This appears 
to have been a favourite play, and it is interesting to 
learn that on its appearance in 1663 Cromwell's daughter, 
then Lady Fauconbridge, was present in her box. At 
the first performance, on Candlemas Day, 1670, Charles 
and the Duke of York were present. At the second 
Lord Chancellor Jeffreys was the guest of the evening. 

On Candlemas Day, 1681, before the Lord Chancellor 
and the judges was given the London Cuckold, a licentious 
play by Edward Ravenscroft, a member of the Middle 
Temple. It has been described as "the most rank play 
that ever succeeded." 

The Plain Dealer, by William \\'ycherlc\ in 1683, was 



198 THE INNER AND MIDDLE TEMPLE 

followed by The Fond Husband, by T. Durfey, in 1684 ; 
and Thomas Otway is responsible for The Soldier's 
Fortune in 1685 and The Cheats of Scapin in 1687. 

Such plays continued to be given with great regularity 
for many years. 

The last revel held in any of the Inns of Court of which 
we have any detailed account was that given in honour of 
Mr. Talbot in the Inner Temple Hall, upon his elevation 
to the Woolsack. It took place on February 2nd, 1733, 
and the following account is given by an eye-witness : — 

"The Lord Chancellor came into the Hall about two 
of the clock, preceded by the Master of the Revels, 
Mr, WoUaston, and followed by the Master of the Temple, 
Dr. Sherlock, then Bishop of Bangor, and by the Judges 
and Serjeants who were members of the House. There 
was a very elegant dinner provided for them and the 
Lord Chancellor's officers ; but the barristers and students 
of the House had no other dinner got for them than what 
is usual on all grand days ; but each mess had a flask of 
claret, besides the common allowance of port and sack. 
Fourteen students waited at the Bench table, among 
whom was Mr. Talbot, the Lord Chancellor's eldest son ; 
and by their means any sort of provision was easily 
obtained from the upper table by those at the rest. A 
large gallery was built over the screen, and was filled 
with ladies, who came, for the most part, a considerable 
time before dinner began ; and the music was placed in 
the little gallery at the upper end of the hall and played 
all dinner time. 

"As soon as dinner was ended, the play began, which 
was Love for Love, with the farce Tlie Devil to Pay. The 
actors who performed in them all came from the Hay- 
market in chairs, ready dressed ; and, as it was said, 
refused any gratuity for their trouble, looking upon the 
honour of distinguishing themselves on this occasion as 
sufficient. 

" After the play the Lord Chancellor, the Master of the 
Temple, the Judges, and Benchers retired to the parliarnent 
chamber, and in about half an hour afterwards came into 



STAGE TLAYS 199 

the hall again, and a large nng was formed round the 
fireplace (but no fire nor embers were on it) ; then the 
Master of the Revels, who went first, took the Lord 
Chancellor by the right hand, and he with his left took 
Mr. J. Page, who, joined to the other Judges, Serjeants, 
and Benchers present, danced, or rather walked, round 
about the coal fire according to the old ceremony three 
times, during which they were aided in the figure of the 
dance by Mr. George Cooke, the Prothonotary, then 
upwards of sixty ; and all the time of the dance the 
ancient song, accompanied by music, was sung by one 
Toby Aston, dressed in a bar-gown, whose father had 
been formerly Master of the Plea Office in the King's 
Bench. 

"When this was over the ladies came down from the 
gallery, went into the parliament chamber, and stayed 
about a quarter of an hour while the hall was putting in 
order ; then they went into the hall and danced a few 
minuets. Country dances began about ten, and at twelve 
a fine collation was provided for the whole company, from 
which they returned to dancing, which they continued as 
long as they pleased ; and the day's entertainment was 
generally thought to be very genteelly and liberally con- 
ducted. The i'rince of Wales honoured the performance 
with his company part of the time ; he came into the 
music gallery incog, about the middle of the play, and 
went away as soon as the farce of walking round the 
coal fire was over." 

This dance was satirised in the Rehearsal, and was also 
ridiculed by Dr. Donne in his Satires, by Prior in his 
Alma, and by Pope in his Dunciad, where he refers to 
this custom in the line — 

" The Judge to dance liis brother Serjeant calls." 

Balls, concerts, garden-parties, and debates, in which 
ladies have been known to take part, have for the most 
part supplanted the plays, and the Royal Horticultural 
Society's annual exhibition of flowers and fruits, held in 
May in the garden, is the finest of its kind in the country, 



200 THE INNER AND MIDDLE TEMPLE 

and is one of the most popular items in the programme 
of London society. 

Plays, however, are still occasionally performed in the 
Temple. On February 7th and 8th last the Hall of the 
Inner Temple was the scene of two performances of 
Robert Browning's historical tragedy Strafford^ previously 
produced at Oxford in 1890. The cast was composed 
entirely of amateurs, with the exception of Miss Sybil 
Carlisle, who sustained the character of Lucy Percy, 
Countess of Carlisle. The majority of the players were 
members of the Bar, or connected with the legal pro- 
fession by birth or marriage. Of these may be mentioned 
Mr. W. W. Grantham, son of Mr. Justice Grantham; the 
Hon. Arthur Webster, son of the Lord Chief Justice ; 
Mr. H. E. Alderson, Mr. Hugh Childers, Mr. Harold 
Whitaker, Mrs. W. W. Grantham, Mrs. Woodfall, and 
Miss M. Muir-Mackenzie. The performance was given 
in aid of the funds of the Inns of Court Mission, a society 
founded and supported by members of the Bar. 



CHAPTER IX 



RIGHT OF SANCTUARY 



RIGHT of sanctuary was 
one of the privileges of 
the Knights Templars, and 
existed in the Temple from 
their occupation to compara- 
tively modern times, prov- 
ing a constant source of 
trouble and annoyance to the 
Masters of the Bench, Up 
to the time of the Reforma- 
tion we hear little or no com- 
plaint against this privilege, 
but with the dissolution of 
the monasteries the ecclesi- 
astical control over these 
asylums almost disappeared, 
which thus became disorderly 
centres for the scum of the 
cities and towns. 
By a statute of Henry VIII. all sanctuaries, except in 
parish churches, their churchyards and cemeteries, were 
declared illegal, but in spite of this Act, other places to 
which the privilege of sanctuary had been attached were 
still recognised as affording similar protection. 

Access to the Temple Church and churchyard was gained 
through the houses fronting on Fleet Street. The chief 

20 1 




Ar\d • Gekte 
GawrdervD 



) of CKvrcK^- 



202 THE INNER AND MIDDLE TEMPLE 

entrance was through a shop in Falcon Court, occupied 
by one Davies, a tailor, and through this house passed 
such " a disorderly crew of outlawed persons which dared 
not show themselves abroad in the streets " that Henry 
Styrrell, of the Middle Temple, who had chambers here, 
petitioned both societies, "for the honor of God and the 
church, to take order that the churchyard be not, as now 
it is, made a common and most noisome lestal." Three 
months later "the tailor's shop was ordered to be pulled 
down, and the door from the churchyard into the street be 
mured up." This was in 1610. 

Ram Alley and Mitre Court, parallel passages connect- 
ing Fleet Street and King's Bench Walk, were also 
claimed as sanctuaries. In the former the Inn owned 
five or more shops, and was thus hampered in dealing 
with the nuisance. In 1577 indeed, at the request of 
Mr. John Dudley, acting on the Earl of Leicester's behalf, 
this entrance was ordered to be walled up, but this was 
not carried out, since the following year an arrangement 
with Mr. Dudley was arrived at by which Ram Alley Gate 
was to be shut at all times except in term time and certain 
days after, and finally in 1596 it was ordered to be closed 
altogether. 

Fuller's Rents were also claimed as a place of sanctuary, 
and in 1604, upon the joint petition of members of the 
House residing there, and of the inhabitants of Ram 
Alley, a new and strong door was allowed to be placed 
at their charges, to be opened only during term time and 
to be kept locked by a porter, and if any further annoy- 
ance should arise, it was to " remain dam^med up for 
ever." 

And this in spite of the fact that the House had been 
"greatly grieved and exceedingly disquieted by many 
beggars, vagabonds, and sundry idle and lewd persons 
who daily pass out of all parts of the City into the gardens 
through the same door, and there have stayed and kept 



RIGHT OF SANCTUARY 203 

all the whole day as their place of refuge and sanctuary ; 
and by sundry sick persons visited with infectious diseases 
who have thither repaired for the taking of the open air, 
by whose being there the whole House hath been greatly 
endangered to be likewise infected ; and further, the same 
House hath been greatly grieved and disquieted by divers 
sundry persons as well abiding in Fleet Street as in the 
same Ram Alley by having recourse through the same 
door into the garden unto their houses of office there, and 
by their continual carrying of water, as well from their 
pump there as from the Thames side." 

Ram Alley is shown as existing on the map of 1799, 
but the entrance into Mitre Court was effectually and 
finally "dammed up" by the erection of a house there. 
Ram Alley has now entirely vanished, but Mitre Court 
Gate still survives, and, as in the days of Elizabeth, is 
locked from eight in the evening till five in the morning. 

The right of sanctuary in the Temple was confirmed by 
the patent granted by James in 1608. 

Just outside was the sanctuary of Whitefriars, the home 
of the Carmelite Friars, consisting of a large church with 
a lofty spire, destroyed about 1540, with the usual offices 
and extensive gardens, and a mansion of the Greys, 
formerly Earls of Kent. 

These precincts had before the Reformation afforded an 
asylum for criminals, and in the reign of Charles II. still 
retained the privilege of protecting debtors from arrest. 
This district was known as Alsatia, in reference to 
Alsace, the buffer state between France and Germany. 
It has formed a theme for numerous plays and novels, 
notably Shadwell's Squire of Alsatia, Mrs. Aphra Behn's 
Lucky Chance, and Sir Walter Scott's Fortunes of Nigel. 

This right, which could be pleaded in bar to most in- 
dictments for felonies and misdemeanours, was so abused 
that by an Act of 21 James I. " no sanctuary or privilege 
of sanctuary " was to be allowed. But although, writes 



204 THE INNER AND MIDDLE TEMPLE 

Lord Macaulay, "the immunities legally belonging- to 
the place extended only to cases of debt, cheats, false 
witnesses, forgers, and highwaymen found refuge there. 
For amidst a rabble so dangerous no peace officer's life 
was in safety. At the cry of ' Rescue,' bullies with swords 
and cudgels, and termagant hags with spits and broom- 
sticks, poured forth by hundreds ; and the intruder was 
fortunate if he escaped back into Fleet Street hustled, 
stripped, and jumped upon. Even the warrant of the 
Chief Justice of England could not be executed without 
the help of a company of musketeers. Such relics of the 
barbarism of the darkest ages were to be found within 
a short walk of the chambers where Somers was studying 
history and law, of the chapel where Tillotson was 
preaching, of the coffee-house where Dryden was passing 
judgment on poems and plays, and of the hall where the 
Royal Society was examining the astronomical system of 
Isaac Newton." 

Luttrell relates how, when the Benchers in 1691 at- 
tempted to brick up the little gate into Whitefriars, the 
Alsatians assembled and pulled down the bricks as fast as 
the workmen laid them. Thereupon the sheriffs and their 
officers attended, but were attacked and knocked down, 
shots were fired, and many on both sides were killed and 
wounded. Eventually the Alsatians were reduced and 
many of them imprisoned, but it took troops to do it. 
One of the sheriffs was Sir Francis Child, who lost part of 
his gold chain. 

This affray and Shad well's Squire of Alsatia — which 
gives a realistic picture of Alsatian life, made up of 
"copper captains," degraded clergymen, broken lawyers, 
skulking bankrupts, thievish money-lenders, and gaudy 
courtesans — led to the legislation at the end of the 
seventeenth century abolishing privilege of sanctuary in 
Whitefriars. 

In 1693 a Captain Winter, who had headed a mob of 



RIGHT OF SANCTUARY 205 

Alsatians, was found guilty of murder, and although re- 
prieved, was eventually executed in Fleet Street, opposite 
to White Fryars, the scene of his misdeeds, when, ac- 
cording to Luttrell, he "died very penitently." 

And even in the Temple itself this abolition of the right 
of sanctuary was disregarded by the young Templars, for 
as late as 1697 they rescued from custody a person 
arrested for debt, and it was not until the reign of 
George I. that the last of these pretended places of 
sanctuary was effectually stamped out. 



CHAPTER X 
THE TEMPLE CHURCH 

WHATEVER differences may from time to time 
have existed between the two societies of the 
Inner and Middle Temple — and these differences some- 
times reached the breaking point — they were never allowed 
to interfere with the common love and veneration for that 
ancient building which they had jointly inherited from the 
Knights Templars. 

And although their care and solicitude for this national 
monument of an early chapter in our history has not 
always been such as it might have been, still, allowing 
for some slight laches and some misguided zeal, the 
Benchers of the two societies have earned our gratitude 
by preserving and handing down to posterity that building 
so closely bound up with some of the most momentous 
incidents in our national life in much the same state as 
when the poor fellow-soldiers of Christ knelt upon its 
flags to take the vows of poverty and purity. 

THE ROUND 

In the year 1185 the Round was built after the model 
of that erected over the Holy Sepulchre at Jerusalem, 
and dedicated to the Virgin Mary by Heraclius, Patriarch 
of the Church of the Holy Resurrection in Jerusalem, in 
the presence of Henry II. and his Court. 

On Ascension Day, 1240, a second dedication took place 

206 



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THE TEMPLE CHURCH 



207 



before Henry III. and his barons, when, according to the 
best authorities, the rectangular portion of the church, as 
we now know it, was added. 

There was, however, a chancel or choir attached to the 
Round, prior to 1240, extending some fifty feet in length, 



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INTO THF. Ci.OISTEKS. 

as the foundations still existing under the present pave- 
ment prove, but whether this building was earlier or later 
than the Round is uncertain. It is considered by some 
to date from Saxon times. 

THE KNIGHTS TEMPLARS AND SECRET SOCIETIES 

It now appears to be a well-established historical fact 
that the Order of the Knights Templars was one of the 
five great secret societies of the Middle Ages, all of which 
indulged in Masonic symbols and mysteries. That the 
Eastern Order of the Assassins and that of the Knights 
Templars were identical is open to grave question, but 
the eminent Egyptologist, Mr. Edward Clarkson, does 
come to the conclusion that a large proportion of the 



2o8 THE INNER AND MIDDLE TEMPLE 

Templars were imbued with the Gnostic and Manichee 
heresies ; that they had adopted the initiations of a cor- 
rupted and ming-led Freemasonry, such as was used by 
the latter, and that they were closely related with the 
Assassins, who occupied strongholds in the immediate 
neighbourhood of their fortresses in Syria. The chief of 
the Assassins had adopted the initiations of a secret Free- 
masonry similarly corrupted, in order to train his fanatical 
followers for the ambitious purposes at which he un- 
scrupulously aimed. Mr. Clarkson also agrees with Von 
Hammer that the charges levelled against the Templars 
by Philip le Bel were mainly true, and that under the 
mask of poverty the Templars did follow idolatrous 
doctrines and indulge in idolatrous practices. Such a 
theory seems naturally entirely inconsistent with the 
militant Christianity and professed faith of the Templars, 
the avowed champions of the Christian doctrines, but it 
must not be forgotten that the protection of the pilgrims 
on their way to the Holy Sepulchre was a highly lucrative 
business. The faith of the Templars, or at least of their 
leaders, may have been but a cloak for the purpose of 
amassing wealth. 

In support of these views Mr. Clarkson traces the 
architecture of the Temple Church through the Temple 
of Solomon and the Mosaic Ark to the Great Pyramid, 
the first great lodge of Egyptian Freemasonry. The six 
columns in the Round, consisting of four pillars each, and 
connected with the twelve columns of the exterior circle 
by arches which produce exact triangles ; the four door- 
ways and the eight windows, are the geometric and 
numerical symbols, which the Gnostics received from the 
later Platonists, who owned that they derived them from 
the secret Freemasonry of the Egyptian initiations. The 
resemblance of these two circular ranges of pillars to the 
Druidical circles of stones cannot be a mere coincidence. 
Three primary symbols — the circle representing the sun. 




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2IO THE INNER AND MIDDLE TEMPLE 

the tail or T-shaped cross eternal life, and the triangle 
joy — tog-ether with the oval representing the ovum or 
fecundity, and the square or cube divine truth and justice, 
are all reproduced in the Temple Church. 

At the same time, however, these may be nothing more 
than survivals of that sun-worship from which have 
evolved all the great religions of the world. Mr. W. J. 
Loftie indeed, in his usual superior manner, dismisses 
poor Clarkson's theory with the "loftiest" scorn! 

Turning to the decorations, many of the tiles are 
reproductions of those found when the pavement was 
lowered some sixteen inches, thus bringing to light the 
bases of the beautiful Purbeck marble columns of the 
inner circle. 

THE MONUMENTAL EFFIGIES 

Of the nine mail-clad effigies it is impossible to speak 
with certainty. That they do not represent Knights 
Templars is clear, since the Templars were always buried 
in the habit of their Order, and are represented in it on 
their tombs. This habit was a long white mantle, with 
the red cross over the left breast ; it had a short cape and 
hood, and fell down to the feet unconfined by any girdle. 
As an example Mr. Addison cites the monument of Knight 
Templar Brother Jean de Dreux, in the church of St. 
Yvod de Braine, near Soissons, clothed in a long mantle 
with the cross of the Order carved upon it, as described 
above. Yet, although not monuments of Knights 
Templars, these cross-legged effigies are intimately 
connected with the Order. They represent a class of 
men termed "Associates of the Temple," men who, 
unwilling to become full-fledged Templars by taking the 
vows, were yet desirous of participating in the spiritual 
privileges of the society without entirely abandoning the 
pleasures of the world. Thus connected, they enjoyed 
when living the prestige of membership, and when dead 



THE TEMPLE CHURCH 211 

the inestimable privileg-e of resting- within these sacred 
precincts. And so in return for these advantages they 
devoted a portion of their wealth to the use of the Order, 
and offered their persons for the protection of its property. 
In the year 1209 we find William, Count of Forcalquier, 
dedicating- himself "to the house of the chivalry of the 
Temple," bequeathing his own horse, with two other 
saddle horses, all his equipage and armour complete, and 
a hundred silver marks, and undertaking as long as he 
leads a secular life to pay a hundred pennies a year, and 
to take under his safeguard and protection all the property 
of the house wherever situate. 

William of Asheby, in Lincolnshire, is another example. 
!n consideration of being received "into confraternity" 
with the Knights Templars, William makes a g-rant to 
the house out of his estates. 

Standing in front of the group on the north side, the 
Sussex marble effigy at the top left hand is said, and 
probably with truth, to represent Geoffrey de Magnaville, 
Earl of Essex and Constable of the Tower. Rebelling 
against Stephen, he became one of the most violent 
disturbers of law and order during that troublous period. 
Excommunicated for the sack of Ramsey Abbey, he was 
in 1 144 struck down when laying siege to the royal castle 
of Burwell. Although duly penitent for his misdeeds, 
some Knights Templars alone could be found willing to 
render him spiritual assistance on his death-bed. For 
this assistance he appears to have rendered an adequate 
return, and the Templars, throwing- over him the habit 
of their Order, carried his dead body to the Old Temple 
in Chancery Lane. In 1182 it was transferred to the 
cemetery in the New Temple, and finally, on the dedication 
of the church, buried in the porch before the west door. 

The charge on his shield is that of a Mandeville, and is 
said by Gough to be the earliest instance in England of 
sculptured armorial bearings on a monumental eftig-y. 



212 THE INNER AND MIDDEE TEMPLE 

Next on the rig^ht (No. 2) is a Purbeck marble figure in 
low relief, which is said to be the most ancient, and which 
cannot be identified. 

No. 3 is also of Purbeck marble, dating from the latter 
end of the twelfth century. The feet rest upon grotesque 
heads, probably representing conventional Saracens. This 
monument also is unappropriated, as is the case with its 
companion (No. 4), a remarkably fine specimen, also in 
Purbeck marble, which differs from all the others, as it is 
the only one with the mouth covered by the chapelle de fer, 
leaving the forehead, eyes, and nose alone exposed. 

The coped stone coffin-lid (No. 5) on the extreme north 
side is also of Purbeck marble, and is said to be the tomb 
of William Plantagenet, the fifth son of Henry HI., who, 
according to Weever, was buried in the Round in 1256. 
There appears to be little authority for this statement. 

The group on the southern side are all of later date. 
No. 6, a fine example in Sussex marble, is generally 
supposed to represent William Mareschal, the great Earl 
of Pembroke, guardian of Henry HI. But Mr. Baylis, K.c, 
relying upon a statement in the Petyt MSS. to the effect 
that the effigy of the Earl is cross-legged, throws doubt 
upon this supposition, and considers its companion, No. 7, 
a specimen of Reigate stone, to be that of William Mares- 
chal, in which opinion he has the support of Pennant. 
No. 7 is thought by some to be the effigy of William 
Mareschal the younger, and No. 8, also of Reigate stone, 
is said to be that of Gilbert, another son of William the 
elder, who was killed in a tournament at Hertford. 
No. 9 is considered by others to represent either William 
the younger or Gilbert, which in either case leaves one of 
the four unappropriated. 

The monument (No. 10) of Roche Abbey stone, on the 
south side, is possibly that of Sir Robert Rosse, who, 
according to Stow, became a Templar in 1245, and was 
buried here. Others assert that an effigy of a De Ros 



THE TEMPLE CHURCH 213 

was brought from York and placed in the church about 
the year 1682. The shield, which has three water 
bougets, the arms of the De Ros family, supports either 
view, but De Ros was certainly not a Templar, though 
probably an associate. 

The question whether cross-legged effigies represented 
Crusaders, or at any rate those who had taken the cross 
without actually going to the East, is still a matter of 
controversy. Whatever the reason for this posture, 
numerous instances of Knights Templars thus represented 
are to be found in other churches in England and Ireland, 
although none are known on the Continent. 

The font near the southern group of effigies is modern. 
It is a copy of an ancient one at Alphington, near Exeter, 
of about the twelfth century. 



CHAPEL OF ST. ANNE 

At the junction of the Round with the choir on the 
south side stood the Chapel of St. Anne, destroyed by 
gunpowder in the fire of 1678 to check its spreading to 
the church. 

This building consisted of two floors, and both floors 
were oblong, forming double cubes. In the symbolic 
language of Freemasonry the cube represents divine 
truth and justice. Viewed from any point the cube is 
always equal, always based upon itself, and invariably 
just in its proportions. Between the two floors was a 
flight of fourteen steps. The initiatory Freemasonry of 
Eleusis was conducted by means of two floors, one over 
the other, communicating by seven steps, but at Den- 
derah and elsewhere the steps are fourteen. Here, then, 
according to Mr. Clarkson, the novice was initiated into 
the Order of the Knights Templars. This novitiate bore 
a strong resemblance to the exterior initiation practised 
in the Isisian and Eleusinian mvsteries. 



214 THE INNER AND MIDDLE TEMPLE 

"After undergoing certain trials as a novice, the 
reception of the candidate took place in one of the 
chapels of the order in presence of the assembled chapter. 
The aspirant, if no objection was taken, was led into an 
ante-chamber, near the chapter room, and two of the 
oldest knights were sent to instruct him in all it was 
requisite to know. He was then brought back between 
the two, each holding a drawn sword over his head, to 
the grand master or his vice-regent, the grand prior, and 
kneeling with folded hands before the preceptor, he took a 
solemn vow to be for ever the faithful slave of the order. 
Again, after having first vowed perfect secrecy and 
perfect chastity — having sworn to ' kiss no woman, not 
even his sister, and to hold no child over the baptismal 
font ' — the initiation was declared to be closed ; the white 
mantle with the red badge was thrown over his shoulders, 
and he was pronounced amidst the congratulations of the 
chapter a free, equal, elected, and admitted brother." 

And these rites appear to have partially survived in the 
creation of Serjeants. Connected with the Chapel of 
St. Anne by the Cloisters was the Chapel of St. Thomas, 
near the Hall door, the patron saint of the Serjeants, at 
whose shrine they prayed before going to St. Paul's to 
select their pillars. 

In the Chapel of St. Anne were kept the judicial records 
and writs, which were burnt in the fire of 1678. The 
remains of the building may be visited by descending 
through an iron grating, the whole being covered by 
seven large flagstones. 

This chapel was the resort of childless women, who 
came here to intercede with the saint. 



THE PORCH 

The present porch is a survival of the ancient cloisters, 
to which the magnificent Norman arch owes its preserva- 
tion from the elements. Upon its roof once rested a 
house of three stories, and the northern arch was also 







2 



THE TEMPLE CHURCH 215 

blocked up by an adjoining building ; whilst inside the 
porch against this stood a stationer's shop, belonging in 
1677 to the firm of J. Penn and O. Lloyd, as we learn 
from the chief butler's accounts delivered to the Treasurer 
of the Inner Temple for that year. Rather more than a 
century later, to wit in the year 1784, a shop-bill showing 
the shop in sitUy with the firm's name " O. Lloyd and 
S. Gibbons, Stationers," is given in the Gentleman's 
Magazine. 

The half-length figures beneath the capitals of the 
columns of the arch are said by a writer in the Gentleman's 
Mugasi}ie for 1783 to be those of Henry U. holding the 
roll containing the grant to the Templars to erect their 
church, and of his queen, Eleanor, on the opposite side. 
Next to the King are three Knights Templars, one of whom 
holds a roll signifying the possession of the royal grant. At 
the Queen's side is the figure of Heraclius with his hands 
raised in prayer, whilst those adjacent seein to be priests 
in the same devout attitude. 

In the illustration at page 206 the arch appears to be 
too wide for the height. This is due to the fact that 
when this view was taken the pavement had not been 
lowered to its original and present level. Through the 
doorway may be discerned the screen, which at that time 
divided the Round from the Choir, and above the screen 
Father Smith's famous organ. 

THE CHOIR 

The body of the church, consecrated, as has been said, 
on Ascension Day, 1240, consists of a middle and two 
side aisles, and is eighty-two feet in length, fifty-three in 
breadth, and thirty-seven in height. The roof is supported 
by clustered columns of highly polished Purbeck marble, 
with richly moulded capitals, from which springs the 
groined vaulting of the middle and two aisles with 
central bosses. The spandrels of the middle are decorated 



2i6 THE INNER AND MIDDLE TEMPLE 

with ornamental foHag-e, in which the arms of the two 
societies occur alternately, whilst those of the aisles have 
also in circles the triangle with three vesicae, the Latin 
and Greek crosses, the Beauceant banner, the crescent 
under the cross, and a quadruple vesica. 

The first monument on entering the choir to the right 
is a bust of the learned divine John Hooker, a Master 
of the Temple in the sixteenth century. Just below 
is the grave of Selden, whose mural tablet, which for 
some unexplained reason was formerly in the north- 
east corner of the choir, has now been restored to its 
original position. 

We come next to a recess behind the south-east stalls, 
occupied by a handsome effigy of a bishop under a canopy. 
It is attributed to Silvester de Everden, Bishop of Carlisle 
from 1247 to 1255, and formerly stood out against the 
south wall. 

Near the south-east corner is a double piscina of 
Purbeck marble and an aumbry. In the north-east 
corner is another aumbry, or cupboard for the holy 
vessels and utensils. 

Under the communion table is an old oak chest, con- 
taining the charter-deeds of the two societies. There 
are two keys to this chest, which are kept by the 
Treasurers, in the presence of whom alone can it be 
opened. 

The stained glass in the choir, as in the Round, is all 
modern. In the east windows of the aisles the Knights 
Templars are well represented with their banners, the 
Beauceant, the Red Cross, and the Cross triumphant over 
the Crescent. 

The frescoes on the west wall of the choir represent 
Henry I. bearing the Beauceant banner ; Stephen with 
the device of St. George on a silver field ; Henry II. 
holding a model of the Round ; Richard I., also carrying 
a model of the church ; Henry, the eldest son of Henry II. ; 



THE TEMPLE CHURCH 217 

John with a model of the church as in his time ; and 
Henry III., also with a model of the church as restored in 
1240. 

At the east end are two small doors, which form the 
private entrance for the Benchers of the two societies. 

THE PENITENTIAL CELL 

At the north-west corner of the choir is a small Norman 
door opening- upon a dark winding staircase leading to 
the triforium. 

On the left of the stairs in the thickness of the wall 
is the Penitential Cell, four feet six inches long and 
two feet six inches wide, so constructed as to render 
it impossible for a grown man to lie down. "In this 
miserable cell," writes Addison, "were confined the re- 
fractory and disobedient brethren of the Temple, and 
those who were enjoined severe penance with solitary 
confinement. Its dark secrets have long since been 
buried in the tomb, but one sad tale of misery and horror 
connected with it has been brought to light." 

From the witnesses who were examined by the Papal 
inquisitors at St. Martin's Church and St. Botolph's we 
learn that a Knight Templar, Brother Walter le Bacheler, 
Grand Preceptor of Ireland, was imprisoned here in 
chains for disobedience to the Master of the Temple, and 
here died from the severity of his confinement. His body 
was carried at early dawn from this solitary cell by 
Brothers John de Stoke and Radulph de Barton to the 
old churchyard between the church and the Hall, and 
there consigned to the grave. Two small windows admit 
light and air, one looking eastward into the choir, so 
that the prisoner might see and hear the offices carried on 
at the high altar, and the other looking southward into 
the Round. At the bottom of the staircase is a stone 
recess where bread and water for the prisoner were 
placed. 



2i8 THE INNER AND MIDDLE TEMPLE 

THE TRIFORIUM 

Ascending the narrow winding stairs, the triforium is 
reached through a small doorway. This is a covered 
gallery built over the outer aisle of the Round. To this 
spot have been removed the greater part of the monu- 
ments and mural tablets which once decorated the walls 
and columns of the church below. 

Immediately to the left is the kneeling figure of Richard 
Martin, Recorder of London and a member of the Middle 
Temple, who died in 1615, whilst nearly opposite is 
a mural tablet recording the death of William Petyt, 
Treasurer of the Inner Temple, in October, 1707. Beyond, 
within a canopy, lies the recumbent figure of Edmund 
Plowden, the famous jurist, who died in 1584. Passing 
under a small arch, we come to a tablet in memory of 
Anne, wife of Edward Lyttelton, and granddaughter of 
Lord Chancellor Bromley ; whilst further still are the 
memorial to Jacob Howell, royal historian, 1666, and 
the tablet to Oliver Goldsmith, erected by the Benchers of 
the Inner Temple in 1837. On the north-west side is the 
monument to the beautiful and accomplished Miss Mary 
Gaudy, Who died a victim to small-pox at the early age of 
twenty-two, in the year 1671. The family of Gaudy had 
for generations been connected with the Inner Temple. 
Upon this monument is the following epitaph : — 

" This faire young virg-in, for a luiptiall bed 
More fitt, is lodg'd (sad fate !) amongst the dead ; 
Stormed by rough windes, soe falls in all her pride 
The full blowne rose design'd to addorne a bride." 

Hard by is a tablet to Richard Jewkes, one of the 
four executors of Selden. 

Other well-known names here are those of Clement 
Coke, the youngest son of the great Chief Justice ; John 
Wharry, Daines Barrington, Peter Pierson, and Randle 
Jackson, all immortalised by Charles Lamb, and Henry 



THE TEMPLE CHURCH 219 

Blackstone, son of Sir William. One cannot but regret 
the wholesale removal of these memorials from the body 
of the church. These numerous examples of heraldry 
would, if judiciously placed on the walls of the choir, add 
very materially to the effect, as well as to the interest 
which their names inspire. 

All interested in the study of heraldry will find ample 
material here in the many-quartered arms and ancient 
devices. 

This gallery was originally open to the sky, the conical 
roof only covering the inner circle. Possibly this was for 
purposes of defence, and would correspond with the 
Norman fortified churches, of which so many survive in 
the Auvergne. Here people used to walk, which explains 
the references to persons taking the air on the leads of 
the Temple Church. 

Upon the suppression of the Templars, as has been 
said, their lands in England were granted by the Council 
of Vienne in 1324 to the Knights Hospitallers of St. John 
the Baptist. They, however, did not obtain immediate 
possession, and it was not until 1329 that, upon complaint 
to the King, " the church and places sanctified and 
dedicated to God " were ordered to be surrendered to 
them. At the time of the suppression in 1307 there 
were in residence a master, William de la More, twelve 
brethren, a preceptor, a treasurer, six chaplains, and five 
clerks, besides servants. When the Knights Hospitallers 
leased to the lawyers they reserved to themselves the 
consecrated places and such tenements as they required 
for their own use, and appointed as ctistos or magistcr 
an official who, assuming the old title of the Master of 
the Templars, was known as "the Master of the New 
Temple," and who was responsible to the Prior of 
St. John of Clerkenwell not only for the maintenance 
of the ecclesiastical buildings, but also for the due 
performance of the services in the church. In the year 



220 THE INNER AND MIDDLE TEMPLE 

1378 the clerical staff consisted of the Master, Brother 
John Bartylby, and four chaplains, Sir Robert Kirkeby, 
Sir Thomas Weston, Sir William Eversam, and Sir 
Barnard Barton. 

The exact territory retained for the Master and his 
priests is defined by the inquisition held in 1338. This 
area was comprised within a line drawn from the western 
side of the cloisters to the ancient g"ate into Fleet Street, 
Fleet Street itself the northern boundary, King's Bench 
Walk the eastern, and a line from the latter to the 
Cloisters, including St. Thomas's Chapel and excluding- 
the Hall, on the south. 

For the maintenance of the priests the Hospitallers 
alone were responsible right up to the Reformation, the 
lawyers contributing nothing except upon the eighteen 
offering days, so that each Fellow paid i8d. per annum. 

After the dissolution of the Order of St. John the 
Master, the Rev. William Ermsted, and four stipendiary 
priests, with a clerk, were left undisturbed, and their 
stipends ordered to be paid out of the possessions and 
revenues of the late Order. 

In 1542 William Ermsted leased the Master's mansion, 
with the exception of "two honest chambers" for the four 
priests, to Sir John Baker, a Bencher of our House and 
Speaker of the House of Commons. In the reign of 
Mary the Prior of St. John was reinstated, but Master 
Ermsted, like the Vicar of Bray, was able to accommodate 
himself to the Queen's religious views, as he was able 
subsequently to do upon the accession of Elizabeth. 
Ermsted was succeeded by Dr. Alvey, a distinguished 
divine who had sufiFered under Mary, and from this time 
both societies began to act jointly in the ecclesiastic 
affairs of the Temple. 

The reversion in the Master's mansion and grounds 
having passed to a Mr. Roper, was purchased by the 
two Inns in 1585 for the Master's residence. Owing to 



THE TEMPLE (HrRCH 221 

the sickness of Canon Alvey, Mr. Walter Travers was 
appointed to supply his place as preacher, but upon the 
death of the former Dr. Hooker was nominated by 
Elizabeth, and the strange spectacle was witnessed of 
the Master and the Reader preaching- against each other 
in the same church; as it was said, "The forenoon sermon 
spake Canterbury, and the afternoon Geneva." The 
situation created much dissension in the Temple, which 
continued in spite of the departure of Travers, and until 
Hooker, "weary of the noise and opposition of the place," 
resigned in 1591. 

Under the patent of James I. the two societies bound 
themselves to maintain and support the church, and to 
provide the Master with a convenient mansion, and to pay 
him a yearly stipend of ^17 6^-. 8^/., the ecclesiastical 
buildings finally vesting in the two societies. By this 
time the church was in a ruinous and dilapidated condition, 
and as much as ^£2,^00 in our money was spent in three 
years by the two societies in repairs. In the reign 
of Elizabeth rules had been passed for compulsory 
attendance at church, and partaking at least once a 
quarter of the Holy Communion. Dr. Masters, appointed 
Master in 1601, gave great offence by administering the 
sacrament to members of the Inner Temple before those 
of the Middle. The matter was referred to a joint 
committee of both Houses, which found that there was 
no distinction between the two Houses, and the bread 
and wine were ordered to be administered alternately on 
alternate Sundays to the members of each society 
respectively. 

In 1634 an attempt was made to clear away the small 
buildings, which clung as excrescences to the church, but 
the Middle Temple declining to demolish those chambers 
belonging to them, the only result was the removal of a 
sempstress' shop, the property of the Inner Temple. 

Upon the death of Dr. Masters in 1628, Dr. Mickle- 



222 THE INNER AND MIDDEE TEMPEE 

thwaite was appointed Master of the Temple, with 
unfortunate consequences. A High Churchman and 
follower of Laud, he soon came into conflict with the 
Puritan element in the Temple. He refused to be bound 
by the compromise on the Communion, and claimed 
precedence at the Bench table. When Lord Keeper 
Coventry and the judges dined with the Bench on one 
occasion. Dr. Micklethwaite usurped the Lord Keeper's 
seat, and removed the g-old-embroidered purse. He was 
in consequence bidden "to forbear the hall till he was 
sent for." 

Dr. Micklethwaite, however, was not to be put upon, 
and in his petition to the King he explains how the 
church "has ever been a church of eminency, and a 
choir church exempt from episcopal jurisdiction." He 
complains of the position of the pulpit and altar, and 
of the appropriation by the Fine Office of the Chapel 
of St. Anne. As a result the pulpit was removed to 
the side, the altar replaced on the raised platform at 
the east end, and an iron-bound oak chest purchased 
for the church plate and ornaments. St. Anne's Chapel, 
however, was not cleared. The altar or table had no 
doubt previously stood in the body of the choir, in 
accordance with Puritan custom. A claim by the Doctor 
of a tithe or ten per cent, of all the lawyers' fees as part 
of his stipend was very naturally strongly resented. He 
retaliated by keeping the church doors locked, and not 
allowing the conferences of the two Houses to take place 
in the Round, which had also been a resort of persons 
bent on business or pleasure, like the parvis of St. Paul's. 
Micklethwaite's successor was Dr. John Lyttelton, a 
member of the distinguished family of lawyers and 

divines. 

The choir was divided between the two societies, the 
south side being assigned to the Inner Temple and the 
north to the Middle. A great number of members and 




ROUND TE.Ml'I.E CHURCH 



THE TEMPLE CHITRC'H 223 

others are buried in the choir itself and in the vaults 
under the Master's g^arden. 

The Round appears to have been used by both Houses 
in common, and continued after Micklethwaite's time to 
be one of the customary places where rents could be 
paid, mortgages discharged, and other contracts com- 
pleted, and to be used as a place for lounge and con- 
versation, for conferences between the two Houses, and 
for the burial of servants and others not members of the 
Inns. 

In Ben Jonson's Alchetnist several allusions to this 
practice occur. Partinax Surley, the gamester, agrees to 
meet Captain Face here "upon earnest business," but fails 
to keep his appointment, whereupon the latter exclaims — 

" I have walk'd the Round 
Till now, and no such thing." 

The following- reference to the Round from Butler's 
Hudibras is, however, better known : — 

" Retain all sorts of witnesses 
That ply i' the Temple under trees, 
Or walk the Round with Knig^hts o' the Posts 
About the cross-Ieg-ged Knights their hosts ; 
Or wait for customei\s between 
The pillar rows in Lincoln's Inn. " 

Dr. Lyttelton, upon the outbreak of the Civil War, 
followed the King, and the Temple was for two years 
without a Master. 

F^or a year or two the celebrated John Tombs, the great 
scholar and a rival of Richard Baxter, was Master. 

Under the Commonwealth of course the arrangements 
in the church were again changed, and much damage 
and loss suffered, but very considerable repairs, never- 
theless, amounting to ^^3,000 in present value, were 
carried out. Dr. Ralph Brownrigg was Master during- 
this period, and by his moderation became very popular. 



224 THE INNER AxND MIDDLE TEMPLE 

He was buried in the church and a monument erected to 
his memory. 

His successor was Dr. John Gauden, who claimed to 
be the author of the Eikon Basilike, He became Bishop 
of Exeter. 

The church, which had been kept in good repair by 
the Benchers of the Commonwealth, was much neglected 
during the early years of Charles H., owing no doubt to 
other heavy calls for rebuilding the houses destroyed in 
the Great Fire. 

From the petition of John Playford, clerk of the church, 
presented to the Benchers of both societies in 1675, we 
find several matters in the church which required speedy 
repair : — 

" First, the doors in the screen which parts the church 
are at this time much decayed and broken, as they are no 
security to the church, wherein now standeth the chest 
with your communion plate and also the several vestments 
and books belonging to the church. 

"Second, the pulpit is so rotten at this time and 
decayed as it is in great danger of falling ; also the 
velvet before the pulpit and the cushion thereto belonging 
are both so much decayed and worn out, having been so 
often mended, as much longer they cannot be serviceable. 

"Third, there is at this time great want of a good bell 
in the steeple, which want may soon be supplied if your 
masterships shall please to give order that those two bells 
now in the steeple, which are both cracked and useless, 
be cast into one ; it will make an excellent bell that will 
be heard into all the courts belonging to both societies. 

" Fourth, the two surplices at this time belonging to 
the church are both worn out, one of which is allowed by 
the honourable society." 

A committee was immediately appointed, and repairs 
estimated at ^.^po were under consideration, when the 
disastrous fires of 1677 and 1678 put a stop for the time 
to all ideas of restoration. 



THE TEMPLE CHURCH 225 

That Playford's sugg-estion of recasting the two bells 
was eventually carried out is shown by the inscription 
borne by the present bell : — 

"Sir R. Sawyer A. G. t. Inner Temple, Sir Henry 
Chauncy t. Middle Temple, John Bartlet made me 1686." 

In 1682 the restoration, including the repairs re- 
commended by Playford, was commenced under the 
direction of Sir Christopher Wren. The church was 
entirely repaved with alternate squares of black and 
white marble, and the walls wainscoted up to the bottom 
of the windows. The altar was reconstructed, the carved 
background, the work of Grinling Gibbons, reaching 
several feet above the bottom of the east central window. 
The whole church was repewed, and a new pulpit pro- 
vided. At the opening on February nth, 1682, the 
Bishop of Rochester preached, and was entertained at 
a dinner given by the Benchers of the two Inns at the 
Master's house. 

Soon after the restoration took place the great historic 
contest between two rival organ makers, Bernard Schmidt, 
known as "Father Smith," and Harris, to supply the 
church with a new organ. The trials lasted for a twelve- 
month, and finally Jeffreys was called in to act as arbi- 
trator in the dispute. 

Jeffreys is said to have been a splendid musician, and 
to have acted in the capacity of a musical expert, but it 
seems more probable that he was invited to intervene as 
Lord Chancellor, to whom it was usual to refer all matters 
of controversy which arose in the Inns of Court. 

According to Burney, Jeffreys was selected as arbitrator 
when he was still Lord Chief Justice, in June, 1685, just 
before he set out for the notorious " Bloody Assize." He 
only received the Great Seal in the following October, as 
his reward for his share in this ghastly business. He 
appears, however, to have been only officially appointed 
arbitrator in February, 1686. 
Q 



226 THE INNER AND MIDDLE TEMPLE 

Whatever the reason of Jeffreys' appointment, he 
settled the business by selecting Smith's organ, which 
was placed in the gallery under the central arch between 
the Round and the choir, thus effectually blocking the 
beautiful effect of the view from end to end of the 
interior. 

According to Luttrell this organ cost ;2^i,5oo, and he 
relates how, in 1696, the pipes being foul, "a scaffold was 
erected for the cleaning thereof, and the pipes being laid 
thereon, the scaffold fell down, much bruised the men and 
broke most of the pipes." 

These pipes were apparently very roughly finished 
externally, and when remonstrances were made to Smith 
upon the matter he is reported to have replied, " I do not 
care if ze pipe looks like von teufel ; I shall make him 
schpeak like von engel." According to experts their 
beauty and sweetness of tone have never been excelled. 

In 1691 the south-west front was "new built with 
stone," and the ancient inscription, dated 1185, recording 
the dedication of the Round, destroyed by a careless work- 
man. 

This inscription was over the door under the second 
window from the porch, which formerly led into the 
cloisters on the south-west side of the Round. It has 
been thus translated by Addison : — 

" On the loth of February 

in 

the year From the Incarnation of our Lord 1 185, 

this Church was consecrated in Honour of 

the Blessed Marj' 

By the Lord HeracHus 

By 

the Grace of God Patriarch of the Church 

of the Resurrection, 

Who 

Hath Indulged all those annually visiting it with sixty 

Days of Penance enjoined them." 



■ Ot /»riJV. 




THE TEMPLE CHURCH 227 

Three years later considerable repairs were carried out 
under the direction of the Treasurers of the two societies 
at a cost of ;^23o. On the south-west exterior, where 
the door leading- to the cloisters formerly stood, the 
following^ inscription recorded this restoration : — 

" Vetustate Consumptum : Impensis 
Utriusque Societatis Restitutum. 

Nich. C[ourtney] X Thesaur." 

Rogero Gilling-ham j 

At the beginning- of the eighteenth century the church 
was whitewashed, gilt, and painted within, the pillars of 
the Round wainscoted, the effigies of the Knights 
Templars repaired and painted, and the exterior east and 
north walls restored. In 1736 these latter were again 
repaired more extensively, and the interior redecorated. 

During this period, from 1704 to 1753, Thomas Sherlock, 
Bishop of London, was Master of the Temple, when the 
following epigram was penned : — 

"At the Temple one day Sherlock, taking a boat, 
The waterman asked him, ' Which way will you float ? ' 
' Which way?' says the Doctor. 'Why, fool, with the stream.' 
To St. Paul's or to Lambeth was all one to him," 

Upon his resignation, Sherlock took leave of the two 
societies in terms very flattering to their members. " I 
esteem my relation to the two societies," he writes, 
"to have been the great happiness of my life, as it 
introduced me to the acquaintance of some of the greatest 
men of the age, and afforded me the opportunities 
of improvement by living and conversing with gentle- 
men of a liberal education and of great learning and 
experience." 

Another famous Master was Dr. Thomas Thurlow, 
afterwards Bishop of Durham, and brother of the still 
more famous Lord Chancellor. 

From 1798 to 1826 Thomas Renneli, Dean of West- 
minster, was Master. His wife was a daughter of Sir 



228 THE INNER AND MIDDLE TEMPLE 

William Blackstone, and it was during his term of office 
that, in 1811, the church underwent a general repair. 
The real restoration, however, only commenced in 1825, 
when Sir Robert Smirke restored the whole south side 
and the lower portion of the Round. 

Under the first window, south of the porch, a tablet 
has recently been erected recording this restoration, 
which was completed in 1827, when the remains of 
St. Anne's Chapel still above ground were swept away. 
Meanwhile, in 1819, the houses and shops against the 
church had been removed. 

These repairs cost the two societies nearly ^23,000. 

During some excavations near the Templars' tombs 
in the Round in 1830 a portion of a pyx, or small shrine, 
was discovered. The original shrine was probably oblong 
in shape, and this brasswork attached to one of its ends. 
It consists of three mail-clad figures in high relief, 
supposed to be Roman soldiers watching, with bowed 
heads, the body of Christ. They are in the costume of 
Norman soldiers of the early part of the twelfth century, 
similar to those in the Bayeux Tapestry. The relic is 
therefore of earlier date than the present church, and 
was probably brought by the Templars from their first 
establishment in Chancery Lane. It passed into the pos- 
session of General Pitt Rivers. 

The seal of Berengar was also found here at the same 
time. He succeeded De Pim as Custos, or Grand 
Master, of the Knights Hospitallers in 1365. 

In 1840 the restoration was renewed, with the results 
that we now see. A conical roof was added to the tower, 
thereby restoring it to its original form. The thirteenth- 
century preceptory seal of Ferreby North, in Yorkshire, 
exhibits a round church with a conical roof. The 
marigold west window, blocked up when the house was 
built over the porch about the year 1700, was restored, 
the floor was lowered and retiled, the accumulations 



230 THE LNxNER AND MIDDLE TEMPLE 

of plaster and paint removed from the marble columns, 
and the whole builduig restored, as far as possible, to 
its original state. The marigold or wheel window is 
thought by some antiquaries to be a copy of the Roman 
chariot wheel. 

The Chapel of St. Anne still remains to be rebuilt, and, 
in view of its past history and associations, it is to be 
hoped that this work will eventually be undertaken. 
Commencing with an estimate of between ;^3,ooo and 
p^4,ooo, these repairs ultimately cost the enormous sum 
of ^53.000. 

At the completion of the restoration, in 1845, the 
Queen Dowager visited the church, the only queen who 
had entered the Temple since good Queen Bess. A few 
days later the Duke of Cambridge and other members 
of the Royal Family attended a full choral service here. 



THF COMMUNION PLATE 

The plate belonging to the church contains many pieces 
of greater age than might have been expected, consider- 
ing how closely the two societies were connected with the 
events of the Civil War. 

Mr. Bayliss, K.c, has given a list, from which it will be 
seen that all but one piece is anterior to the troubles, and 
even this is dated with the year of the King's execution. 
The communion plate then consists of two chalices, one in- 
scribed with the name of "Nicholas Overburye, Treasurer of 
the Middle Temple " (the father of Sir Thomas Overburye, 
poisoned by the Somersets), and * ' George Croke, Treasurer 
of the Inner Temple," and dated 1610. The second 
chalice bears the name of " Nicholas Overburye " and the 
same date. Two small patens, dated 1610, and two 
larger patens with coat of arms with two chevrons, dated 
1627. Three flagons bearing similar coats of arms, dated 
1637, and one flagon dated 1648. 



THE TEMPLE CHURCH 231 

THE MASTER'S HOUSE 

The present Master's House is a beautiful Georgian 
building" dating from 1764. It stands upon the site of 
a former house erected in 1700, which succeeded the 
building destroyed in the Great Fire. The latter is said 
to have stood in a line with the church in the present 
garden, but I can find no reliable authority for this state- 
ment. It was built by Dr. Ball, the Master of the Temple, 
in 1664, the Inner Temple contributing ;!^2oo towards its 
cost. The Master had been in occupation little more 
than a year when it perished in the conflagration of 1666. 
The present house is only one room deep, and the principal 
windows face south. The rooms, however, are spacious 
and handsome. It is the joint property of the two 
societies. The old wall and high wooden door shown in 
eighteenth-century prints have given way to the present 
iron railings and gate. In the Bench Table Orders for 
1708 it was ordered that Dr. Sherlock, Master of the 
Temple, should be allowed "to take down the brick wall 
and set up pallisadoes between his garden and Tanfield 
Court." Whether Dr. Sherlock availed himself of this 
permission does not appear. 

This was the Thomas Sherlock who had succeeded his 
father William. The latter was appointed to succeed 
Dr. Ball. He enjoyed a great reputation as a preacher, 
and was presented in 1688 with a pair of silver candle- 
sticks bearing the arms of the Inner Temple. 



CHAPTER XI 



THE INNS OF CHANCERY 




W"" 



Sx^JE. I^J^J ■ GATEWAY; 



HILST it is probable that 
ins of Lawyers, or Law 
Guilds, existed even prior to the 
reign of John, it is certain that 
by the time of Edward I. they 
were well established. The first 
reference to an Inn of Chancery 
occurs in the reigfn of Edward III., 
when Lady Isabel Clifford demised 
her house near Fleet Street at a 
rental of ;^'io to the apprenticii 
de hanco^ that is, to the lawyers assigned to the Court of 
Common Bench. Whether these lawyers were the at- 
torneys appointed by John de Metingham, Lord Chief 
Justice of the Common Pleas, in the twentieth year of 
Edward I., to attend his Court from every county, is not 
clear, but at any rate, in course of time the four Inns 
of Court were reserved for the apprenticii nobiliores, or 
lawyers of good birth, whilst the writ clerks, both of the 
Court of Chancery and of the Court of Common Pleas, 
and other minor officials were relegated to the Inns of 
Chancery. These Inns also became preparatory schools 
for younger students, as we learn from Fortescue, who 
wrote of them in the reign of Henry VI., "because the 
students in them are for the greater part young men 
learning the first elements of the law ; and becoming 

2^2 



THE INNS OF CHANCERY 233 

good proficients therein, as they grow up, are taken into 
the greater hostels, which are called Inns of Court." 

At this period, says Fortescue, there were ten lesser 
Inns {Hospitia cancellaria)^ and sometimes more, and in 
each at least a hundred students and in some a far greater 
number, though not constantly in residence. 

All of these contributed members to the Inner Temple, 
except Staple Inn, but as in the sixteenth century the 
customary admission fee of ^5 was remitted to those from 
the three affiliated societies of Clifford's, Clement's, and 
Lyon's Inns, the majority came from these. In the seven- 
teenth century a fee of ^i was exacted. 

Each Inn of Court appointed Readers for its own Inns 
of Chancery, admitted members gratis or at reduced fees, 
and entertained their antients at Grand Nights and feasts. 
Each Inn of Chancery had its own hall, where banquets 
similar to those of the greater Inns, moots, readings, and 
festivals took place. None of them appear to have had 
any chapel, and their members probably attended the 
nearest parish church, as the chapels of their respective 
Inns would scarcely have afforded sufficient accommoda- 
tion for such numbers. 

In 1557 attorneys and solicitors were denied admission 
to the Inner Temple and ordered to repair to their Inns 
of Chancery, and in 1574 such as remained were ordered 
to be expelled the House. This practice was followed 
some years later by the Middle. 

For the remainder of this century the Inns of Chancery 
continued to be the resort of barristers, attorneys, solici- 
tors, and students of both branches of the profession, but 
at the commencement of the seventeenth century the 
decay set in. Students flocked more eagerly to the more 
fashionable Inns of Court, and the membership of the 
Inns of Chancery fell off to such a degree that men 
like Selden thought it beneath their dignity to become 
Readers. 



234 THE INNER AND MIDDLE TEMPLE 

With reduced numbers and loss of prestige the dis- 
cipline and administration also deteriorated, until by the 
middle of the eighteenth century they ceased to exercise 
their functions and lost their very raison d'etre. At the 
present moment only two, Clifford's Inn and New Inn, 
retain their corporate existence, and the latter will soon 
be swept away by the Strand to Holborn improvements. 

THE INNS OF CHANCERY AFFILIATED TO THE 
INNER TEMPLE 

To the Inner Temple then were attached Clifford's, 
Clement's, and Lyon's Inns. The first named is still in 
being, and lies between St. Dunstan's Church and 
Serjeants' Inn, Chancery Lane. It consists of three 
small courts with three entrances leading from Serjeants' 
Inn, Fetter Lane, and Fleet Street. In the midst is a 
moderate-sized hall, where Sir Matthew Hale presided at 
the Commission which sat to adjust the differences which 
arose between landlord and tenant and adjoining owners 
after the Great Fire. In gratitude for the services then 
rendered by the Commissioners, their portraits were 
ordered by the City to be painted, and these now hang 
in the Guildhall. 

Formerly an old oak folding screen, dating from the 
reign of Henry VIII., used to stand in the hall, upon 
which were inscribed the forty-seven rules of the Inn. 

The garden is described by Maitland as an "airy place 
and neatly kept . . . enclosed with a palisado paling and 
adorned with rows of lime trees." This society is still 
governed by a Principal and twelve rulers, who adopted 
the old arms of the Clifford family, " chequ^e or and 
azure, a fess gules," to which they added "a bordure, 
bezant^e of the third." 

Harrison, the regicide, was clerk to an attorney here 
when the Civil War broke out, and hence he rode off to 
join the Puritan troopers. It was formerly the practice 



THE INNS OF CHANCERY 235 

for attorneys to be attached to certain of the inferior 
Courts. For instance, four attorneys were attached to 
the Mayor's Court. To the Marshalsea, commonly known 
as the Palace Court, six attorneys were attached, and all 
these had chambers in Clifford's Inn. 

Here, too, lived Mr. Dyer, the scholar and bookworm, 
whose chambers were frequented by Sir Walter Scott, 
Southey, Coleridge, Lamb, Serjeant Talfourd, and other 
literary celebrities of the day. Another inmate of Clifford's 
Inn was Robert Pultock, the author of Peter Wilkins, a 
curious but little-known work, which, however, suggested 
to Southey The Curse of Kehama. 

Just north of the church of St. Clement Danes, and 
at the bottom of Clement's Lane, was an ancient and 
holy well, dedicated, like the church, to the Roman 
pontiff, St. Clement. West of Clement's Lane we find 
an Inn of Chancery, called St. Clement's Inn, as early 
as the reign of Edward IV., and a little later, in i486, 
this property was demised for eighty years to William 
Elyot and John Elyot in trust, presumably, for the students 
of the law. 

Of the ancient buildings none survive, those in existence 
in 1800 being described by Herbert as modern, and even 
these have now given place to palatial offices. 

There were originally three small courts, with a well- 
proportioned hall of the genuine Queen Anne style, in 
which hung a portrait of Sir Matthew Hale, now in the 
Hall of the Inner Temple. In the garden adjoining New 
Inn stood the sundial of the Black Boy, to-day a con- 
spicuous feature of the Inner Temple Garden. The arms 
of this society were those of its patron saint, St. Clement, 
a silver anchor (with a stock) in pale proper, and a "C" 
sable passing through the middle. 

Chief Justice Saunders of the Middle Temple picked up 
his early knowledge of law from an attorney's clerk here. 

This was the "Shepherd's Inn" of Thackeray's Pen- 



236 THE INNER AND MIDDLE TEMPLE 

dermis^ where Captain Costigan was to be found trailing 
about the court in his carpet sHppers and dressing-gown, 
next door to whom, at No. 3, lodged Captain Strong, 
with the adventurer Colonel Altremont, agent to the 
Nawaub of Lucknow. When Thackeray wrote, the Inn 
had long ceased to be occupied by the Iav;yers with the 
exception of a Mr. Somerset Campion, whose west-end 
offices were in Curzon Street, Mayfair, and who came in 
his cab twice or thrice a week to his chambers here, the 
lustre of his gorgeous equipage making sunshine in the 
dingy court. 

"In a mangy little grass-plat," writes Thackeray, "in 
the centre rises up the statue of Shepherd, defended by 
iron railings from the assaults of boys." The "Shepherd" 
was of course the " Black Boy." 

This was the Inn too of that immortal creation of 
Shakespeare, "Master Shallow," when he studied law in 
town. "I was of Clement's once myself," he cries with 
self-importance, " where they talk of mad Shallow still." 

West of New Inn, on the site of the late Globe 
Theatre, stood Lyon's Inn. The earliest record of this 
society occurs in the steward's accounts in the reign of 
Henry V. It consisted of one court only, with a hall and 
two ranges of chambers. The hall formed the west side, 
the old houses in Holywell Street the south, and on the 
east was a row of chambers with the windows looking 
into the court, whilst the other row of chambers on the 
north abutted on Wych Street. 

In 1 561, as we have seen, the Middle Temple attempted 
to gain possession of Lyon's Inn, an attempt frustrated 
owing to the influence of the Earl of Leicester. The 
freehold was purchased by Nicholas Hare the younger 
from Edmund Bokenham, of Great Thorneham, in the 
county of Suffolk, in the year 1582, and is described in 
the indenture of sale as consisting of "one capital 
messuage or tenement, with all the buildings, room, back- 



THE INNS OF CHANCERY 237 

sides, orchards, yards, and gardens, unto the same belong-- 
ing-, with all and singular appurtenances called or known 
by the name of Lyon's Inn, situate and being in the 
parish of St. Clement Danes without the bars of the New 
Temple, London." 

The following year the Inn was conveyed by Nicholas 
Hare to the Benchers of the Inner Temple, for the sum of 
;^i43 4.T. 8d. Other premises adjoining the Inn were also 
purchased at the same time by Hugh, brother of Nicholas 
Hare and a member of the Inner, and were conveyed by 
him to the Benchers of his Inn for the sum of ^107 18^. 
gd., to be paid at Easter then following, "at the font 
stone in the Temple Church or at the place where the font 
stone now standeth." 

By the end of the eighteenth century the Inn had fallen 
into disrepute as the haunt of card-sharpers and swindlers. 
Here lived Mr. Weare, who was murdered by Thurstell in 
1824, who pleaded in mitigation that Weare had won 
^^300 from him at cards. 

The Hall, which was pulled down in 1863, was erected 
in 1700, and is described by Herbert as " a commodious, 
handsome room, but now appropriated to indifferent pur- 
poses." When visited by Ireland about the same period 
these "purposes" are indicated. He found it used as 
a fowl-run, with nothing but filth to recommend it. 

The arms, a lion rampant, in a//o relievo, appeared 
above the door of the Hall. 

The Inner Temple at any rate seems to have done its 
best to stop the rot which had set in. Upon the presenta- 
tion of a petition by the fellows of Clifford's Inn against 
their principal, who had neglected to give any satisfactory 
account of the funds which for over forty years had passed 
through his hands, the principal was ordered to attend 
the Bench table and explain his conduct. 

From time to time we find our House exercising its 
ancient jurisdiction over its Inns of Chancery. In 1690 



238 THE INNER AND MIDDLE TEMPLE 

the authorities of Clifford's Inn were called upon to 
explain why they did not elect a reader, and were 
ordered to do so forthwith. In 1689 the principal and 
antients of Clement's Inn were summoned to show cause 
why they were not in commons, and in the following 
year Edward Gerrard, formerly principal, upon the 
petition of the members, was ordered to bring- in his 
accounts to be audited, and if found in default to be 
dealt with as the Bench should direct. 

On November i8th, 1693, the treasurer of Lyon's Inn 
was ordered to attend the Bench table to explain why the 
society did not receive Robert Payne, who had been 
appointed reader by the Bench, and in the following- year 
the treasurer and antients were required to make a 
return of such reputed papists, or " non jurats," as 
resided, or had chambers, in their society. 

THE INNS OF CHANCERY AFFILIATED TO THE 
MIDDLE TEMPLE 

Upon the destruction of Chester's Inn, or Strand Inn, 
by Protector Somerset, New Inn was the only Inn of 
Chancery left to the Middle Temple, since St. George's 
Inn, by the Fleet Ditch in Farringdon Street, the alleged 
original home of the Middle Templars, had long been 
deserted for New Inn. Strand Inn, - which stood just 
opposite the Church of St. Mary-le-Strand, is said to 
have been the Bishop of Chester's town residence ; but, 
according to Stow, the latter was known as "Litchfield 
and Coventrees Inn, or London Lodgings." However 
this may be. Strand Inn occupied land belonging to the 
Bishop of Chester, and hence the name Chester's Inn. 

Just opposite stood an ancient stone cross at which the 
judges occasionally sat to administer justice outside the 
City walls, one of those long-lived survivals of the archaic 
village community customs to which the London Stone 
and other ancient market crosses still bear silent witness. 



THE INNS OF CHAXCEKY 239 

Although Somerset is accused of laying his hands on 
the property of his neighbours, regardless of that blessed 
word "compensation," we learn from the Inner Temple 
Records that he endeavoured to square matters with the 
Middle Temple for depriving them of their Inn by inducing 
the Inner Temple to relinquish the Readership of one of 
their own Inns of Chancery to the society which he had 
robbed. 

This transaction led to a pretty quarrel between the 
Inner and Middle Temples in the reign of Elizabeth, 
when the latter society tried to annex Lyon's Inn, a 
proceeding which might have proved successful but for 
Leicester's powerful intervention. 

New Inn, in Wych Street, a narrow thoroughfare 
similar to Holywell Street, was only separated from 
Clement's Inn by a gate and iron railing on the north- 
easterly side of the square, placed here in 1723. Both 
Inns, says Herbert, contained a number of spacious and 
handsome chambers, which were in general inhabited by 
the more respectable part of the profession. The garden, 
which was a fine, large plot of ground surrounded by an 
iron railing, was laid out in pleasant walks, and was 
common to both societies. The hail in the south-east 
corner is a fine brick building, with the usual clock over 
the entrance. This site, about the year 1485, was occupied 
by an inn or hostel for travellers, called, from its sign of 
the Virgin Mary, "Our Ladye Inn," and upon the removal 
of the members of St. George's Inn from Seacole Lane, 
this hostel was leased from Sir John Fincox, at the rent 
of ^6 per annum. This account is confirmed by Stow, 
who writes : " In St. George's Lane (near St. Sepulchre's 
Church), on the north side thereof, remaineth yet an olde 
wall of stone inclosing a piece of ground by Seacole Lane, 
wherein (by report) sometime stood an inne of chancery ; 
which house being greatly decayed, and standing remote 
from other houses of that profession, the company re- 



240 THE INNER AND MIDDLE TEMPLE 

moved to a common hostelry called of the sigfne, Our 
Lady Inne^ not far from Clement's Inne, which they 
procured from Sir John Fincox, Lord Chief Justice of 
the King's Bench, and since have held it of the owners by 
the name of the New Inne, paying therefore sixe pound 
rent by the yeere as tenants at their owne will ; for more 
(as is said) cannot be gotten of them, and much lesse will 
they be put from it," Above the archway in Wych Street 
may still be seen the arms of this society, a bunch of 
lilies in a flower-pot argent, field vert, emblematic of Our 
Lady. 

One of its most illustrious members was Sir Thomas 
More, the courageous Chancellor of Henry VHI., after- 
wards Reader of Lincoln's Inn. 

THE INNS OF CHANCERY AFFILIATED TO 
LINCOLN'S INN 

Of the Inns of Chancery attached to Lincoln's Inn we 
have already mentioned Thavie's Inn, which passed into 
their possession in the reign of Edward VI., and was 
constituted an Inn of Chancery under a principal and 
fellows, paying as an acknowledgment to the mother 
House the annual rent of ;^3 65^. 4^. 

Furnival's Inn, in Holborn, the other limb of Lincoln's 
Inn, derives its name from Sir William Furnival, whose 
family in the male line became extinct in the reign of 
Richard II. Previous to this event, it had been demised 
to the students of the law, and in the first year of the 
reign of Edward VI. the freehold was sold to Lincoln's 
Inn for ;^i20, when a lease was granted to the principal 
and twelve antients upon the same terms as those given 
to Thavie's Inn. 

Furnival's Inn consisted of two courts of very consider- 
able extent. The street front, erected about the time of 
Charles II., was a very fine brick building, adorned with 
pilasters, mouldings, and various other ornaments, and 



THE INNS OF CHANCERY 241 

was attributed to Inigo Jones. This was pulled down 
and rebuilt in 1820, and it was in this new building" that 
Charles Dickens was living when the Pickwick Papers 
were published. Except for this incident, few will regret 
the recent destruction of the "new building-." The 
Gothic Hall, a still older structure than the front, was 
a plain brick building-, with a small turret and two larg-e 
projecting bow windows at the west end. 

"The inner court," writes Herbert, "contained a small 
range of old chambers, whose fronts were plastered in 
the cottage style, having a singularly rustic appearance, 
and bearing a much greater resemblance to a country 
village than a London inn of chancery." 

The interior of the Hall was very similar to that of the 
Middle Temple, on a smaller scale — the fire-place in the 
midst ; the same disposition of tables and benches ; the 
high wainscoting, and the armorial bearings in the 
windows. 

The arms of the society were. Argent, a bend between 
six martlets, gules, within a border of the second. 

THE INNS OF CHANCERY AFFILIATED TO GRAYS INN 

Gray's Inn was the old town house of the Lords Grey, 
or Gray de Wilton, who only parted with it in the reign 
of Henry VH. In 1505 Edmund, Lord Gray of Wilton, 
by indenture of bargain and sale, granted to Hugh 
Denny and Mary, his wife, the manor of Portpoole, other- 
wise Gray's Inn, consisting of four messuages, four 
gardens, the site of a windmill, eight acres of land, ten 
shillings of feu rent, and the advowson of the Chantry 
of Portpoole. 

Eight years later this property passed into the possession 
of the Priory of Shene, and was demised to the students 
of the law at the annual rent of ^^6 13^. 4^., at which 
rent it was held until the dissolution of the monastery 
in 1540, when it was held direct of the Crown. 
R 



242 THE INNER AND MIDDLE TEMPLE 

This date for the origin of this society is confirmed 
by Dug-dale, who commences his list of Readers with 
John Spelman, and of Treasurers with William Walsyn- 
ham, elected in Michaelmas Term, 1516. 

Gray's Inn, like Lincoln's Inn, could boast of only two 
Inns of Chancery — Staple Inn and Barnard's Inn. The 
former, originally known as Staple Hall, the wool- 
stapler's exchange, still faces Gray's Inn Road from the 
south side of Holborn, although it was partially blocked 
by Middle Row, which, until 1867, filled the middle of the 
present Holborn. 

The front of Staple Inn — one of the most picturesque 
structures in London — of timber, with overhanging stories 
and numerous gables, may date from times even earlier 
than the reign of Elizabeth. 

The greater part of the inner court was built in the 
first half of the eighteenth century, some portions being 
dated 1720 and 1750. 

The Hall may possibly be Elizabethan, as it is mentioned 
by Sir George Bere in 1631, but part is later, the beautiful 
Gothic door on the garden front bearing the date 1753. 
There is the usual clock and a small turret — "the most 
perfect," says Mr. Loftie, "in London" — and in the 
windows are a few armorial bearings. 

It is said to have been an Inn of Chancery as early as 
the reign of Henry V. The first grant of the inheritance 
to Gray's Inn took place in the twentieth year of 
Henry VIII. 

The arms of the Inn are. Azure, a woolpack, argent, 
showing its connection with the wool merchants. In 
1884, when the Inn was put up for sale by the antients, 
the Prudential Assurance Company, with great public 
spirit, invested a part of its earnings — ;^68,ooo to wit — 
on its purchase, with the intention not of utilising a 
grand building site, but of maintaining the property in 
its ancient form, although by so doing they were forced 



THE INNS OF CHANCERY 243 

to be content with but a moderate return on their outlay. 
The charming- old Hall has been put into thorough 
repair, and tenants for it were readily found in the 
Society of Actuaries. 

To Staple Inn in 1758 came Dr. Johnson with the 
honours of his g-reat dictionary fresh upon him, and here 
it was that he wrote his Rasselas. Hence he removed 
the following- year to Gray's Inn, and from the latter in 
due course to No. i. Inner Temple Lane. 

Barnard's, or Bernard's, Inn lies but a little east of 
Staple Inn on the same side of Holborn, adjoining 
Fetter Lane. It was originally known as Mackworth's 
Inn, and was the property of John Mackworth, Dean of 
Lincoln, a member of the powerful family of Mackworth 
of Mackworth in the county of Derby. Dean Mackworth 
died in 1451, devising by his will "one messuage in 
Holborn called Mackworth's Inne " to the cathedral 
church of Lincoln for the masses for the repose of his 
soul. 

It was shortly after the death of the dean that Mack- 
worth's Inn passed into the hands of the lawyers, for in 
the Records of the Chapter House at Lincoln occurs an 
entry of the receipt of jQt^ ly. ^d., as the annual rent, from 
Thomas Chambre, then principal of the Inn. A passage 
in the Harleian Manuscripts confirms this. During the life 
of the dean the Inn appears to have been let to Lionel 
Bernard, and was probably used by him as his private 
residence, since he is described as having dwelt there 
"lastly next before the conversion thereof into an Inn of 
Chancery." 

From this gentleman no doubt is derived the present 
name of the Inn. In the Inquisition of 1454 occurs the 
name of Barnard's Inn, and it seems clear that immediately 
after the dean's death the society of Barnard's Inn, what- 
ever the duration of its existence, was then housed here, 
for Stow relates how, in 1451, "a tumult betwixt the 



244 THE INNER AND MIDDLE TEMPLE 

gentlemen of the innes of court and chancery and the 
citizens of London, hapning in Fleet Street in which 
some mischief was done ; the principals of Clifford's 
Inne, Furnival's Inne and Barnard's Inne were sent 
prisoners to Hartford Castle." 

The following description of the Inn as it appeared in 
1888 may be cited from the Times of that year : — 

"Passing along Holborn on the south side, a few 
doors west of Fetter Lane, one may notice an old- 
fashioned doorway standing guard over a narrow passage. 
A few steps down this passage, and, in the words of a 
recent historian of London, one finds oneself ' transported 
into another century, and sees what might be the actual 
scenery of one of Dr. Hooghe's pictures.' A small court- 
yard made bright by a tree or two is surrounded on three 
sides by sober-looking brick houses, and on the fourth by 
a building which stained glass windows, high-pitched roof, 
and picturesque fifteenth -century louvre unmistakably 
declare to be the hall of the Lin. The way passes by 
the door of the hall into another small court, upon one 
side of which is the library, and on the other the kitchen. 
Beyond are other houses facing a small railed enclosure 
with a few trees, and then the passage loses itself in a 
considerable gravelled area, from which spring some 
planes and limes of fair size. This is the garden of the 
Inn, and several favoured sets of chambers look upon it. 
On the south it is separated by a wall from the old inn 
yard of the White Horse Tavern, and on the east a 
passage leads between gabled and timbered houses into 
Fetter Lane." 

The Hall is one of the most ancient in London. It was 
in existence in 145 1, and was originally a black and white 
structure like the Cheshire timbered houses, which in the 
eighteenth century was cased in brick, and its character, 
externally at least, destroyed. It boasts an open timber 
roof, and some of the armorial glass in the windows dates 
from the year 1500. 

Although the smallest of the halls, it is perhaps the 





z 

u 



THE INNS OF CHANCERY 245 

most interesting. Here formerly hung- portraits of Lord 
Burleigh, Francis Bacon, and Sir Thomas Coventry, 
together with a full-length representation of Chief Justice 
Holt, presented by his clerk, Sylvester Petyt, a principal 
of the Inn. There were also portraits of Petyt himself, 
of William HI., of Sir William Daniel, a Justice of the 
Common Pleas, and of other legal celebrities connected 
with the society. 

In the Gordon Riots of 1780 the Inn narrowly escaped 
total destruction. Adjoining the Inn was a distillery 
owned by Langdale, a papist ; and the rioters, upon their 
return from ransacking Lord Mansfield's mansion in 
Lincoln's Inn Fields, attacked the distillery and set fire 
to it, when, owing to the immense quantities of spirits, 
the whole place became a roaring furnace. A block ot 
chambers belonging to the Inn, now represented by 
Nos. 6 and 7, was burned to the ground, and the flames 
licked the walls of the Hall. 

A graphic description of this riotous scene, with the 
mob fighting in the gutters for the spirits as they poured 
from the distillery, is given by Charles Dickens in Barnaby 
Rudge : — 

" But there was a worse spectacle than this — worse by 
far than fire or smoke or even the rabble's unappeasable 
and frantic rage. The gutters of Holborn and every 
crack and fissure of the stones ran with scorching spirit, 
which, being dammed up by busy hands, overflowed the 
road and pavement and formed a great pool, in which 
people dropped down dead by dozens. They lay in heaps 
all round the fearful pool, husbands and wives, fathers 
and sons, mothers and daughters, women with children 
in their arms and babies at their breasts, and drank until 
they died. While some stooped with their lips to the 
brink and never raised their heads again, others sprang 
up from their fiery draught and danced in a mad triumph 
and half in the agony of sufi"ocation until they fell and 
steeped their corpses in the liquor which had killed them. 
Nor was even that the worst or most appalling kind of 



246 THE INNER AND MIDDLE TEMPLE 

death that happened on this fatal night. From the burn- 
ing cellars, where they drank out of hats, pails, buckets, 
tubs, and shoes, some men were drawn alive, but all 
alight from head to foot, who in their unendurable anguish 
and suffering, making for anything that had the look of 
water, rolled hissing into this hideous lake, and splashed 
up liquid fire, which lapped in all it met as it ran along 
the surface, and neither spared the living nor dead. On 
this last night of the riots — for the last night it was — the 
wretched victims of a senseless outcry became themselves 
the dust and ashes of the flames they had kindled, and 
strewed the public streets of London." 

The Inn consists of two courts, and from the old garden 
in the inner quadrangle was once a thoroughfare into 
Fetter Lane. 

In chambers here lodged William Hayley, the poet and 
biographer of Cowper ; and here too early in the nineteenth 
century dwelt Peter Woulfe, f.r.s., said to have been 
"the last true believer in alchemy." The floors of his 
chambers were littered with every imaginable utensil for 
the exercise of his art, and the walls were inscribed with 
prayers in aid of his experiments. The constant failure of 
these in discovering the elixir of life the eccentric Woulfe 
attributed to the insufficiency of his supplications. 

The arms of the society, which was governed by a 
principal, a gubernator, and twelve antients, were those 
of the Mack worths of Mackworth in Derbyshire, viz., 
Party per pale indented, ermine and sable, a chevron 
frettee, or and gules. 

The Inn is now the property of the Mercers' Company, 
and is used as a school. 



CHAPTER XII 



THE TEMPLE GARDENS 




THE 
di 



HE gardens are very 



ifFerent to-day from 
what they were when the 
respective champions of the 
Houses of York and Lan- 
caster plucked the red and 
the white roses in angry 
defiance. 

In 1528 the new river wall 
was built under the auspices 
of Treasurer Packington, 
before which date there was 
nothing to protect the gar- 
dens and buildings from an 
extra high tide. 
This wall started from the Friars' Wall, at about the 
site of the present No. 10 or 11, King's Bench Walk, and 
ran due west to the southernmost end of the present 
Paper Buildings, in digging the foundations for which the 
remains of the old wall were discovered. 

Continuing slightly south, it struck the Temple Stairs, 
consisting of arches forming a causeway, with steps lead- 
ing down to the water. This bridge or pier existed as 
early as 131 1. 

From the stairs the wall turned slightly northwards, 

247 



MfDDIE^' TEIvlPE. GAF^^ENI 
CA.TE VNfDER,THE UJBF^(\RY 
STAIRS^ ■ ' 



248 THE INNER AND MIDDLE TEMPLE 

ending on a line with the old Essex House Stairs, near 
the foot of the present Watergate, at the bottom of Essex 
Street. Outside the wall along the bank ran a pathway 
from Bridewell to the Savoy. 

Since the construction of this wall, by successive em- 
bankments, and finally by the Thames Embankment, 
both the gardens have been more than doubled in extent. 
The Inner Temple garden, known as the Great Garden, 
which lay between the Hall and the river wall and White- 
friars and Middle Temple Lane, has changed least. From 
the earliest times it seems to have been well planted with 
trees and carefully cultivated, with lawns and walks and 
borders filled with roses and flowering shrubs. 

Approximately on the site of No. lo, King's Bench 
Walk, against the old river wall, stood the gardener's 
house and garden. In 1545 the gardener was ejected for 
having sickness and the plague in his house, keeping ill 
rule, and cutting down the trees ; and in 1580, apparently 
upon the principle that the poacher makes the best game- 
keeper, the gardener's ancient rent of ^4 a year was to 
be remitted provided he kept the House free from all 
"rogues and beggars, which be found very dangerous 
both in respect of health as for robbing of chambers." 

With the erection of buildings upon the site of Paper 
Buildings the Great Garden was cut in two, and the 
smaller portion became parcel of the Great Walk or 
Bencher's Walk, now known as King's Bench Walk. 

In the reign of James I. new seats were provided for 
the Great Garden, a new pump erected, and a pond, 
which has long since disappeared, was excavated and en- 
closed by a railing at a total cost of £28 10s. Periodical 
payments for "wire to nail up the rose trees in the 
garden" occur in the accounts, in which also figure 15^. 
for a sundial for the garden purchased in 161 9 ; 6s. 6d. for 
ten young elm trees for the garden walks, and ^Qi 9^. 6d. 
for the purchase in 162 1 of a new stone roller in an iron 



THE TEMPLE GARDENS 249 

frame. In 1606 we find the gardener again in trouble, for 
an inquiry is directed "as to the under-cook's horse, 
supposed to be killed by the gardener in the yard next 
the garden." 

Every well-ordered garden contains a summer-house, 
so it is not surprising to find in the accounts for 1631 a 
payment to William Newman, the plasterer, of 10^. for 
** work done about the summer-house in the garden." 

This summer-house was perhaps on the site of the new 
one built by John Banks in the year 1703, between the 
old Crown Office and the new Harcourt Buildings, In 
1693 the greefihotise was ordered to be re-roofed with lead 
and wainscoted. This was evidently used as a place of 
recreation, for in 17 10 a table and sconces were provided. 

During the Commonwealth considerable sums were 
expended upon the garden. The principal item in the 
garden accounts of ^429 14^. 5^'. was for laying new 
turf, which was brought from Greenwich Park in lighters 
in the spring of 165 1. 

P'rom the time of the Commonwealth the garden 
appears to have been much neglected, but in the year 
1670 the large sum of ;^203 los. was expended in new 
gravelling the walks. The gardener at this period had a 
house in Middle Temple Lane, part of which he let out as 
chambers to members of the Inn, and part of which he 
used as an alehouse. In 1690 an order was made by the 
Bench "that the gardener no longer keep an alehouse or 
sell drink, and that the door out of the gardener's lodge 
towards the Watergate be bricked up." 

This house was demolished in 1703 to make way for 
Harcourt Buildings. In the accounts for 1700 we find 
payments for thirty elms, two standard laurels, four 
"perimic," six junipers, four hollies, and two perimic 
box trees. "Perimic" here no doubt stands for "peri- 
metric," that is, the box trees were cut in the prevailing 
symmetrical fashion. 



250 THE INNER AND MIDDLE TEMPLE 

In 1703 fifteen yew trees were ordered for the garden, 
two hundred " junquiles," two hundred tulips, one hundred 
yellow Dutch crocus, fifty armathagalum, and four more 
box trees for the grass plots ; ;^i i for box edging is spent 
in 1708, and in the accounts throughout this period are 
payments for cherry, nectarine, orange, peach, plum, and 




THL " BLAC 



BOY 



lime trees, and for jessamine and cockle shells for the 
walks. 

The sundial now opposite Crown Oflfice Row was pur- 
chased in 1707, and in 1730 the great gate, a beautiful 
specimen of eighteenth-century wrought-iron work, was 
erected. It bears, in addition to the device of the winged 
horse, the arms of Gray's Inn, in compliment to its ancient 
ally, a compliment returned by the latter society, which 



THE TEMPLE G.VRDENS 251 

introduced the arms of the Inner Temple hi the g-ate to 
Gray's Inn Gardens. 

In that part of the garden near the bottom of King's 
Bench Walk is to be found a kneeling black figure 
supporting a sundial. This was brought comparatively 
recently from Clement's Inn. It is said by Ireland to 
have been presented to the latter society by Lord Clare, 
who brought it from Italy about the year 1700. Accord- 
ing to Ireland the figure is bronze, but some ingenious 
persons, having determined on making it a blackamoor, 
painted it black. Mr. Loftie, on the contrary, assumes it 
to be lead, and says that numbers of similar leaden 
statues were made at a "statuary's" in Piccadilly a 
century and a half ago. 

The following lines were one day found attached to this 
statue : — 

" In vain, poor sable son of woe, 
Thou seek'st the tender tear ; 
From thee in vain with pangs they flow, 

For niercy dwells not here. 
From cannibals thou fled'st in vain ; 

Lawj'ers less quarter give ; 
The first won't eat you till you're slain, 
The last will do't alive." 

Here and in the Middle Temple Garden in the eighteenth 
century the Court ladies, in hoops and patches, took 
the air with the young bloods about town. And here 
one may also picture the good knight. Sir Roger de 
Coverley, and Mr. Spectator, with his short face, pacing 
the green together, with groups of City merchants with 
their wives and children sauntering along the broad 
gravel walk by the river wall. Later still, on a certain 
Sunday evening, Arthur Pendennis was to be found in 
the summer-house, and here, of course quite by accident, 
he tumbled across pretty F'anny Bolton, when he ought 
to have been engaged in solitary meditation. 



252 THE INNER AND MIDDLE TEMPLE 

Undoubtedly it would be hard to find in this great city 
a more ideal spot for meditation upon the centuries rolling 
down the broadening stream of time. Here with closed 
eyes and fancy free we may wander to the far-off time 
when, through the forest glade, a British youth and 
maiden, on love's errand bound, pass hand in hand, un- 
mindful of the Roman city within its walls, across the 
marsh. Next may we picture a sloping mead, which 
from the Saxon homestead drops to meet the flowing tide ; 
or, later still, in Norman times, when those proud 
Templars — half priests, half warriors — from orchard and 
vineyard gathered their rich store of fruit. And with 
their fall, as seems befitting, for many years we gaze upon 
an unkempt waste, until the lawyers, having reduced the 
law to order out of chaos, make it once more a flowery 
oasis. Now memories less shadowy begin to crowd upon 
us. In some graceful lines Mr. John Hutchinson, Librarian 
to the Middle Temple, has given expression to some such 
thoughts as these, with which the spirit of the place 
affects us all alike : — - 

" Here as I sit, where rolls the river by, 

Or where the fountain, as it falls and springs, 

Brings to the vacant mind the memory 

Of streams and rills and woodland murmurings, 
And dreams of far-off drowsy country things. 

Here as I sit or walk dim paths along, 

The shadows of the past around me flit and throng. 

"The shadows of the Past— the mighty Dead, 

Whose names are oracles, whose words were law; 
Whose wisdom lives in tomes, if little read, 
The objects yet of reverence and awe, 
Whence smaller wits, as from a mine, may draw 
Material, which skilfully outspread 

May gain them fair renown, and class them with the dead. 

1 Anglo-Saxon Review, vol. x., Sep., 1901. 



"1 



CHAPTER XIII 



THE TEMPLE STAIRS 




T 



Temple in the Reign of James 



HE earliest reference to 
the Temple Stairs, or 
Temple Bridg-e, as it was 
called up to the eighteenth 
century, occurs, as we have 
seen, in the letter of Edward 
HI., in the third year of his 
reign, to the Mayor. It is 
said, and probably with truth, 
to have been built by the 
Knights Templars, and it 
was restored by order of Edward III. in 1331. 

Another reference to the "Pons Novi Templi " occurs 
in a subsequent letter of the same monarch, in which he 
commands the Templars to repair the bridge, so that his 
lords and others who attended the Parliament at West- 
minster might not be inconvenienced. In some excava- 
tions in the Strand, east of St. Clement's Church, in 1802, 
a stone bridge of a single arch, covered with soil to some 
depth, was discovered. This would imply a stream or 
ditch between the New Temple and Pickett's Field, and 
possibly this is the bridge referred to, by which those 
coming from the City would cross to the Temple and so 
to the stairs at the bottom of Middle Temple Lane. 

Here in 1441, as we learn from Stow, landed Dame 



253 



254 THE INNER AND MIDDLE TEMPLE 

Eleanor Cobham, Duchess of Gloucester, robed in a white 
sheet, with lighted taper in hand, on her way through 
Fleet Street to fulfil her appointed penance at old St. 
Paul's. Her confederates in the alleged acts of witch- 
craft against the young King Henry suffered the extreme 
penalty of the law, but Dame Eleanor was allowed to 
retire to the Isle of Man, where in Peel Castle her ghost 
is said still to roam. 

We next hear of the Temple Bridge when, in 1541, 
there was a conference between the two societies relating to 
its repair. What came of the conference is unknown, 
but in 1584 the bridge was repaired with the aid of a 
subscription from the Queen herself. 

In 1620, however, "a new bridge and stairs" were 
ordered to be built, and the Treasurer was admonished 
"to take care that the bargain be made for the best of 
both Houses." That the Treasurer, who was Sir Thomas 
Coventry, was not entirely successful appears from the 
accounts, where numerous heavy charges for the new 
bridge occur for many years. An order was passed in 
1703 for the repair of the bridge, " at the equal charge of 
both Temples," and three years later the stairs were 
ordered to be "amended." 

In the great frost of 1683 the Temple stairs played an 
important part. This frost commenced early in December, 
and lasted continuously up to the 8th of February. 
On January ist, as we learn from Evelyn, booths were 
set up on the ice, and coaches, carts, and horses passed 
to and fro. The frost becoming more severe, the booths 
were arranged in formal streets, "all sorts of trades and 
shops furnished and full of commodities, even to a 
printing press where ye people and ladyes tooke a fancy 
to have their names printed, and the day and yeare set 
down when printed on the Thames." Coaches, he adds, 
"plied from Westminster to the Temple, and from several 
other staires to and fro, as in the streets, sleds, sliding 



THE TEMPLE STAIRS 255 

with skeetes, a bull-baiting, horse and coach races, puppet 
plays and interludes, cookes, tipling, and other lewd 
places, so that it seem'd to be a bacchanalian triumph 
or carnival on the water, whilst it was a severe judgment 
on the land, the trees not only splitting as if lightening 
struck, but men and cattle perishing in divers places, and 
the very seas so locked up with ice that no vessells could 
stirr out or come in." 

As late as February 5th Evelyn tells us he crossed the 
river in his coach from Lambeth to the Horseferry. 

The illustration of this scene here given was taken on 
February 4th, the day before the first thaw, and is supposed 
to be the work of Thomas Wyck, a well-known artist of 
the seventeenth century. It gives a good view of the 
stairs and of the lower buildings in King's Bench Walk. 
The street of booths just opposite, stretching across the 
river, was known as "Temple Street." Charles II. was 
a frequent visitor to the *' Frost Fair," as this ice carnival 
was called, and a card commemorating one of his visits, 
printed by G. Groom on the ice, on January 31st, 1684, is 
still in existence. He and the Queen are said to have 
been present when an ox was roasted whole on the ice, 
and even to have eaten a portion of it. 

It is to these stairs that we are introduced by Addison 
in his account of Sir Roger de Coverley in the Spectator 
for 1712 : — 

" We were no sooner come to the Temple stairs but we 
were surrounded with a crowd of watermen offering us 
their respective services. Sir Roger, after having looked 
about him very attentively, spied one with a wooden leg, 
and immediately gave orders to get his boat ready." 

When the steamboats had destroyed the watermen's 
business, the stairs were abandoned, the pier at Essex 
Stairs being used, and from 1840 the gates at the Temple 
Stairs were kept locked, on account of the disorderly 
persons who began to frequent the spot. Upon the 



256 THE INNER AND MIDDLE TEMPLE 

construction of the Embankment in 1865 the old Temple 
Stairs were removed, and the present Temple Pier built 
as a substitute for the use of the members of the two 
societies, but the Thames watermen and their wherries 
have long succumbed to the " Underground " and the 
penny " bus." 



CHAPTER XIV 



THE DEVIL'S OWN 




T 



Badge of the 
" Devil's Own." 

de Warren, 



^HE pen is mightier than the sword, 
but the Templars have ever been 
ready at times of national emergencies 
to exchange their more innocent-looking, 
but none the less deadly, quills for martial 
weapons. Centuries before the lawyers 
made their home in the Temple many of 
the judges had engaged in military enter- 
prises. William FitzOsborne, Odo of 
Bayeux, Geoffrey of Constance, William 
Robert, Earl of Morton, and Richard 
Fitzgerald, all afterwards judges, played leading parts 
at the Battle of Hastings. 

And in later years the judges did not hesitate to leave 
the bench for the saddle. In 1 138 Walter Espec, Justiciar, 
commanded at the Battle of the Standard. Several of 
the justices fought in the wars of King John, and it was 
Hubert de Burgh, Chief Justiciary, and William Mare- 
schal. Justiciar, who defeated the French at the battles of 
Dover and Lincoln in 1216. On the disastrous field below 
Stirling Castle the English forces were led to defeat by 
Hugh de Cressingham, Justice Itinerant. 

A few years later, on the 22nd May, 1305, just before 
the dissolution of the Order of the Knights Templars, 
the Temple Gardens were the scene of one of the most 

s 2S7 



258 THE INNER AND MIDDLE TEMPLE 

brilliant military spectacles ever held. Tidings of the 
rising" of Robert Bruce having reached London, Edward I, 
decided to knight his son and other young men of birth 
before sending them to put down the insurrection. Tents 
for the candidates were raised in the gardens, and so 
numerous were the aspirants for knighthood, some 270, 
that the trees had to be cut down to give place for their 
temporary abodes. In the Temple Church, as was 
customary, they kept vigil with their arms through the 
night, and were knighted by the King on the following 
morning, and entertained to a banquet later in the day. 
At Crecy the judges were represented by Robert Bouchier, 
Chief Justice of the King's Bench in Ireland, and Richard 
le Scrope, afterwards Chancellor, the latter of whom also 
fought at Neville's Cross and in the great sea fight at 
Rye. John de Delves, afterwards Keeper of the Great 
Seal, distinguished himself at Poitiers, and Chancellor 
Beaufort held high command at Agincourt. 

We have already alluded to the attack on the Temple 
in 1381 by Wat the Tyler, and the loss of their papers 
would seem to show that the Templars made no organ- 
ised effort at defence. Nor is there any evidence of 
organised factions during the Wars of the Roses, beyond 
the tradition immortalised by Shakespeare of the plucking 
of the red and white roses in the Temple Garden by the 
leaders of the rival houses of York and Lancaster. 

But numerous lawyers took part individually on one 
side or the other. John Fortescue, Chief Justice, was 
at the battles of Towton and Tewkesbury ; Richard 
Neville, Chancellor to Henry VI. and father of the 
king-maker, was taken prisoner at Wakefield and be- 
headed the following day ; and Thomas Thorpe, a Baron 
of the Exchequer, met with the same fate at the Battle 
of Northampton. 

Thomas Weswyke, Recorder of the City and after- 
wards Chief Baron of the Exchequer, assisted in re- 



THE DEVIi;S OWN 259 

pelHng the assault of the Lancastrians upon the City 
in 1467. 

There is a record of an encounter in the following" 
century — to be precise, on June 12th, 1554— between the 
Lord Warden of Kent's servants and the members of 
the Inns of Court, in which some were " sleyn and 
hurt " ; but whether this was a mere faction fight, or 
whether the lawyers took up arms in defence of their 
privileges, does not appear. 

The first recorded embodiment then of the members of 
the Inns of Court and Chancery took place at the time 
of the Spanish Armada. In 1584 local associations were 
formed to resist the threatened invasion, and the lawyers 
were not behindhand in giving" proof of their loyalty. 
The original deed of association relating to Lincoln's 
Inn is still in existence and amongst the Egerton Papers 
now in the possession of the Earl of Ellesmere, whose 
ancestor, Thomas Egerton, then Solicitor-General and 
afterwards Chancellor, was the first to sign it. A repro- 
duction of this document now hangs in the Drill Hall. 

A similar association was formed on November 3rd 
in the same year in the Inner Temple, and an oath taken 
by the Fellows "to serve and protect her from all who 
may harm her person." 

Towards the end of James I.'s reign a scare as to 
military efficiency sprang up, and it was proposed to 
establish riding schools throughout the country. In con- 
sequence one of the first acts of Charles I. upon his 
accession was to address a circular to the Benchers of 
the Inns of Court, calling upon them to require their 
students to exercise themselves in arms, and particularly 
in horsemanship, in which the English nation was said 
to be very deficient. An immediate result was the appear- 
ance of the mounted gentlemen of the Inns of Court, 
properly armed and equipped, in the celebrated masque 
of 1633 already described. 



26o THE INNER AND MIDDLE TEMPLE 

Their next appearance was upon a more serious occa- 
sion. Upon the attempted arrest of the Five Members 
in January, 1642, they marched down to Westminster, 
500 strong, and expressed in no uncertain terms their 
determination to protect their sovereign from insult, 
offering themselves as a bodyguard. This offer was 
graciously accepted, and at Westminster they remained 
for some days ; their threat to bring up their tenants 
from the country created somewhat of a panic in the 
House, and four members were sent off in haste to 
ascertain from the Benchers their intentions. 

The reply of the four Inns was reassuring: "That 
they had only an intent to defend the King's person, and 
would likewise to their utmost also defend the Parlia- 
ment, being not able to make any distinction between 
King and Parliament, and that they would ever express 
all true affection to the House of Commons in particular." 

Upon the outbreak of the Civil War Charles, who had 
already formed a highly favourable opinion of the gentle- 
men of the Inns of Court, commissioned Lord Lyttelton, 
Keeper of the Great Seal, to raise a regiment of foot 
from their ranks " for the security of the Universitie and 
Cittie of Oxford." 

Lyttelton died of a chill contracted whilst drilling 
his recruits, and was succeeded in command, as already 
related, by Chief Justice Heath. 

A cavalry regiment was also raised, as we learn from 
a letter of the Countess of Sussex at St. Albans to Sir 
R. Verney, in which she writes: "The Inns of Court 
Gentlemen to guard my Lord's person is come too, they 
say very fine and well horsed." 

The Royalists, as we have seen, were far from com- 
manding the allegiance of all members of the Inns of 
Court. Oliver Cromwell, a member of Lincoln's Inn, 
when Captain of the 67th or Slepe Troop of the Essex 
Association, is said to have occupied chambers in the 



THE DEVIUS OWN 261 

old gateway of Lincoln's Inn, in Chancery Lane, and 
thence corresponded with Oliver St. John, his fellow- 
member, and John Hampden, of the Inner. 

In the Revolution of 1688 the Inns of Court do not 
appear to have taken any official part, but individual 
members were actively engaged. 

On one of the columns in the Temple Church was a 
tablet to William Cock, Esq., of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, 
a volunteer at the Battle of La Hogue, 1692, in which 
he so distinguished himself that, through the patronage 
of the Hon. George Churchill, brother of the great Duke 
of Marlborough, he obtained the command of several 
ships of war in the reigns of William, Anne, and 
George I. He died 1724, aged forty-nine. 

Upon the rising of the Young Pretender in 1745, a 
regiment of volunteers was raised in the Inns of Court by 
Chief Justice Willes for the defence of the King's person. 
Willes was to have been colonel, but with the retreat of 
the rebels the danger passed, and his commission was 
nev^er signed. 

After the French Revolution the fear of an invasion by 
our neighbours across the Channel excited the martial 
ardour of the whole people, and none were more active 
in encouraging the volunteer movement than the gentle- 
men of the Inns of Court. Embodied in 1803, they took 
part in the great review of some 27,000 volunteers, held 
on October 26th and 28th in Hyde Park before George HI. 
As the Temple companies marched past, the King 
inquired of Erskine, their lieutenant-colonel, what was 
the composition of that corps. "They are all lawyers, 
sire," replied Erskine. "What! what!" exclaimed the 
King, "all lawyers— all lawyers? Call them the Devil's 
Own, call them the Devil's Own"; and the "Devil's Own" 
they are called to this day. The Lincoln's Inn corps was 
commanded by Sir William Grant, then Master of the 
Rolls, who had seen active service in Canada, when in 



262 THE INNER AND MIDDLE TEMPLE 

1775 he commanded a body of volunteers at the siege of 
Quebec, against the attack of the Americans under 
General Montgomery and Colonel Arnold. At the time 
of the review there appear to have been two corps, one 
the Bloomsbury and Inns of Court Association, and the 
other the Legal Association. When the Government of 
the day subsequently endeavoured to deprive the volunteers 
of their right to resign, Erskine argued in their defence, 
and the judges supported his view by deciding that the 
service was entirely voluntar}^ 

Lord Erskine served both in the army and the navy. 
In 1764 he joined the Tartar as a midshipman, and after 
four years' service he left the navy and entered the army 
as an ensign in the Royals, or First Regiment of Foot. 
Abandoning the profession of arms in 1775, he was 
admitted to Lincoln's Inn to commence a career which 
led him to the Woolsack. 

In 1859, owing to a threatened war with France, the 
volunteer movement again came to the front, and a 
petition was presented to the Benchers of the Middle 
Temple, praying for the use of the Hall in which to 
discuss the formation of a volunteer corps. Amongst 
the signatories are some well-known names — Adolphus 
Liddell, Staveley Hill, William Vernon Harcourt, John 
Duke Coleridge, and Joseph Kaye. 

The outcome of the meeting was the formation of 
"The Inns of Court Volunteer Corps," which was 
enrolled on January 12th, i860, as the 23rd Middlesex, 
a number since changed to the 14th Middlesex. In the 
same year this corps took part in a great review before 
the Queen. Prominent members of this corps were, and 
in a few instances still are. Lord Campbell, son of the 
Chancellor ; Lord Herschell, Lords Justices Cotton, 
Thesiger, Lopes, Baggallay, Chitty, Sir William Grantham, 
Sir Edward Clarke, and Mr. Justice Willes. Of the 
latter the sergeant-major, Dod, once remarked with 



THE DEVIL'S OWN 263 

soldierly bluntness that Willes mig-ht be "a damned 
good judge, but he was a damned bad drill." 

For the South African War some forty men were 
selected from the Inns of Court for service with the 
specially raised City Imperial Volunteers, popularly 
known as the C. I.V. The whole of this corps was 
entertained before embarking for the front to banquets, 
one in the Inner Temple Hall, and the other in the Middle 
Temple Hall. At the former Sir William Grantham 
presided, and bid them godspeed. 

Amongst other military members of the Inns of Court 
who have distinguished themselves must be mentioned 
Mr. Kenyon-Parker, a Treasurer of Lincoln's Inn, who 
served as a lieutenant of Marines in the well-known 
action between the Monarch and some French frigates in 
1806, in the Walcheren expedition in i8og, and in the 
attack and destruction of the batteries on the island of 
Ragnosniza. Sir Henry Havelock, of Indian Mutiny 
fame, we have already mentioned ; but the names of 
General Herbert Stewart, who died of wounds received 
at Abu Klea, and of Sir Evelyn Wood, v.c, must not be 
omitted. 



CHAPTER XV 



TEMPLE BAR 




T' 



EMPLE BAR, althoug-h not within 
the Temple, is too closely associated 
with its history to be passed unnoticed. 
"Anciently," says Strype, "there were 
only posts, rails, and a chain, such as 
are now in Holborn, Smithfield, and 
Whitechapel bars. Afterwards there 
was a house of timber erected across 
the street, with a narrow gfateway and 
an entry on the south side of it under 
the house." 

This building was certainly there in 
the reign of Henry VIII., and the stone 
gate-house, as many of us remember it, 
was erected in the years 1670-2. It 
marked not the boundary of the City 
proper, but the later extension known as 
the Liberty of the City, which it separated 
from the Liberty of the City of Westminster, and became 
the scene of many historical pageants. The latest was the 
reception of Her late Majesty Queen Victoria by the Lord 
Mayor in the Diamond Jubilee progress through the City, 
when the keys were here presented to the Queen, and 
duly restored by Her Majesty to the City's representative. 
Temple Bar has figured in many a pageant and many a 

264 



THE- 



Gl^lFFIN- 



TEMPLE BAR 265 

tragedy. Here came Bloody Mary on her way into the 
City to be proclaimed, and here the Lord Mayor deHvered 
up the City sword to good Queen Bess when she rode to 
St. Paul's to return thanks for the glorious victory over 
the mighty galleons of Spain. On this occasion, as we 
learn from an entry in the Black Books of Lincoln's Inn, 
the gentlemen of the Inns of Court were present in a 
stand specially allotted to them. This entry consists of 
an item of ^3 i i.y. paid to Philip Cole, under-Treasurer 
of the Middle Temple, being one quarter of the charges 
for the rails and cloth used in the stand. Stow relates 
how the City companies " stoode in their rayles covered 
with blew cloth," and doubtless the stand of the Inns of 
Court was similar. 

At Temple Bar the same scene was enacted in honour 
of Charles the Martyr, Cromwell the Protector, and 
Charles the Selfish Idler. 

Here Evelyn, in his eighty-fourth year, stood and 
witnessed the same ceremonial when Queen Anne was 
received at Temple Bar by the Mayor, and presented with 
the sword which she returned. The Queen "rode in a 
coach with eight horses, none with her but the Duchess 
of Marlborough in a very plain garment, the Queen full 
of Jewells." 

And from his day the old gateway has cast its shadow- 
over the head of every sovereign and every popular hero. 

At Temple Bar, too, mobs have burned in effigy Popes 
and every other obnoxious personage. Guilty and inno- 
cent alike have suffered the ignominy and outrage of the 
pillory. In 1679 the infamous Titus Oates expiated here 
a portion of his outrageous crimes, and later still De Foe 
stood in his place. 

In delivering sentence upon Oates, Mr. Justice Withers 
said : "I never pronounce sentence but with some com- 
passion ; but you are such a villain and hardened sinner 
that I can find no sentiment of compassion for you." 



266 THE INNER AND MIDDLE TEMPLE 

A strong Whig and supporter of William, with the 
return to power of the Tories upon the accession of Anne, 
Daniel De Foe was sufficiently indiscreet to reprint his 
Shortest Way with the Dissenters, which was ordered by 
Parliament to be burnt by the hangman in New Palace 
Yard. 

De Foe had fought for Monmouth and opposed James ; 
he had been the favourite and panegyrist of William ; he 
had vindicated the principles of the Revolution and de- 
fended the rights of the people. When the wheel of 
fortune brought back the outraged Tories whom he had 
bitterly attacked, De Foe was put in the pillory at Temple 
Bar, but the good citizens of London, remembering his 
labours in their cause, instead of pelting him with brick- 
bats and rotten eggs, smothered him with bouquets of 
flowers. " Thus," he says, " I was a second time ruined, 
for by this affair I lost above ^3,500." 

Pope makes allusion to this " aftair " in the following 

lines : — • 

" Earless on hig-h stood unabashed De Foe 
And Tutchin flagrant from the scenes below." 

And De Foe himself, in his Hymn to the Pillory, thus 
describes his position on that occasion : — 

" Exalted on thy stool of state, 
What prospect do I see of future fate? 
How the inscrutables of Providence 
Differ from our contracted sense ; 
Hereby the errors of the town 
That fools look out and knaves look on." 

As at London Bridge and Westminster Hall, the heads 
of traitors grinned their ghastly warning to the passers by. 

The heads of the rebels of '45 were still rotting there 
when Dr. Johnson passed the gateway on his way to his 
chambers in hiner Temple Lane. 

In the room over the archway were stored the ledgers 
from Child's Bank. 



TEMPLE BAR 267 

Upon the widening' of the Strand and the erection of 
the Law Courts, Temple Bar was pulled down and re- 
moved to Meux Park, near Enfield, where it has been 
rebuilt, and may still be seen. Its place has been marked 
by the present Temple Bar memorial, erected in 1880, 
consisting of a column surmounted by a bronze figure of 
a griffin, representing the City arms. In one of the 
niches is a statue of Her late Majesty Queen Victoria, 
wearing her crown and carrying the orb and sceptre. 
This monument is vulgarly known as "The Griffin." 



CHAPTER XVI 

BUILDINGS IN THE MIDDLE TEMPLE AND 
SOME OF THEIR INMATES. 




MlDDlE^' TEMP E,' GA TEVC^^ 



A WRITER in Black- 
imod, quoting the 
old proverb, "The Inner 
Temple for the rich, the 
Middle for the poor," says 
few great men have come 
from the Middle Temple. 
Although it is true that 
the list of great men be- 
longing to this society is 
not so long as that of the 
sister House, nevertheless the Society of the Middle 
Temple has every reason to be proud of its members, 
whose names are enrolled in the annals of history, law, 
and letters. This society, indeed, as stated, until quite 
recently claimed to be the parent body, and in support 
of this contention pointed to the discovery of the founda- 
tions of an ancient hall discovered in 1735, between 
Pump Court and Elm Court, when digging for a well. 
Whatever attempts may have been made by the Society 
of the Middle Temple to assert its seniority over that of 
the Inner and its title to precedence were settled once 
for all at a meeting held on May i8th, 1620, before four 
of the judges, viz. Sir Henry Montague (Lord Chief 

268 




•r. 

u 

o 
'< 

a 

a 

-1 

a 



i 



i 



BUILDINGS IN THE MIDDLE IT.MPLE 269 

Justice) and Mr. Justice Dodridge of the Middle, and 
Lord Cliief Baron Tanfield and Baron Bromley of the 
Inner, when it was decided that all the Societies of 
Court stood upon an equal footing, " no one having right 
to precedence before the other." 

THE GATE-HOUSE 

Before entering the Middle Temple one may well pause 
to admire from Fleet Street the splendid gate-house, 
erected by Wren in 1684 to replace an earlier one said 
to have been designed and built by Sir Amias Pawlet. 
The story goes that, about the year 1501, the worthy 
knight had been so wanting in foresight as to put 
Cardinal Wolsey, then the parson of Lymington, in the 
village stocks. The Cardinal seems to have retained a 
lively recollection of this indignity, and, sending for 
him in 15 15, commanded him not to quit town until 
further orders. " In consequence he lodged five or six 
years in this gateway, which he rebuilt, and to pacify 
his eminence adorned the front with the Cardinal's cap, 
badges, cognizances, and other devices," together with 
his own. Mr. Loftie states that Sir Amias built the 
gateway in payment of a fine laid upon him by Wolsey, 
but how this would benefit the Cardinal it is difficult to 
conceive. 

I find, however, that in 1520 a Sir Amisius Pawlett 
was chosen Treasurer of the Middle, who is evidently the 
Sir Amias of the above story, and there can be little 
doubt that the gateway was built by the Inn in the 
ordinary way. Pawlett's own arms would be accounted 
for by the custom of inserting, in new buildings erected 
by the Inn, the arms of the Treasurer for the time being, 
whilst those of Wolsey might naturally be added as a 
compliment to the reigning minister. Some writers say 
that this gateway was burned down in the Great Fire, 
whilst Mr. Loftie states that the stonework was so 



2/0 THE INNER AND MIDDLE TEMPLE 

mouldering- that the whole edifice had to be taken down. 
The latter opinion is probably correct, since there is 
evidence that the Great Fire did not spread even so far 
west as the Inner Temple gateway, or the fire of 1678 
further north than Hare Court and the northern portion 
of Brick Court. 

James Shirley, the poet, a member of Gray's Inn, was, 
in 1666, living- in a house close to the Inner Temple 
gateway. This was one of the last destroyed, but 
Shirley only survived the loss of his property and the 
horrors of the conflagration twenty-four hours. He was 
the author of the TriumpJi of Peace and other pieces, some 
of which appeared on the boards in the Inner Temple 
Hall, as we have seen. 

THE OLD POST HOUSE 

Passing- under the archway, we observe a quaint old 
building-, the ground floor occupied by a stationer ; and 
on referring to Master Worseley's Observatio7is on the 
Constitution, Customs, and Usage of the Honotirahle Society 
of the Middle Temple, written in 1733 and only recently 
published, we find that in that year there were " two 
shops on the east side of the lane near the Great Gate, 
the one occupied by a stationer, the other by a shoe- 
maker." The latter, however, has disappeared, although 
one was until lately to be found outside the west entrance, 
in Devereux Court. 

This building was formerly known as the *' Old Post 
House," and was built in the reign of Elizabeth, if not 
earlier, being then occupied, according to tradition, by 
the Queen's printers. From the days of George I. to 
the institution of the penny postal system in 1840 it was 
also used as a post office ; hence its name. Two quaint 
staircases give access to the upper rooms, those on each 
floor forming a complete set of chambers. 

Here in the eighteenth century numerous well-known 



BFILDINCtS in the middle temple 2/1 

works were published, such as Rowe's edition of Shake- 
speare ; The Devout Christian's Companion, by Archbishop 
Tillotson(i709); La Bruyere's Theophrastns {i^oc}); Swift's 




Tale of a Tub (1739); W'hitelocke's Mcinoria/s of Eni^lis/i 
Affairs ; the works of the Earls of Rochester and Ros- 
common, and Sir Roi^er L'Estrangfe'syt>ir/»/(//^. 



272 THE INNER AND MIDDLE TEMPLE 

The old business of law stationers, printers, and pub- 
lishers is still carried on by Messrs, Abram and Sons, in 
whose family it has now been since 1774. In the course 
of centuries the firm has accumulated a larg-e store of 
ancient MSS., consisting" of old rolls, records, royal 
gfrants, and deeds, dating from the reign of Elizabeth, 
Irish army rolls of the Commonwealth, numerous letters 
of historic interest, many relating to the naval war with 
France at the end of the eighteenth century. Amongst 
the books are two folio volumes in manuscript, illustrated 
with most beautiful drawings by hand, containing a de- 
scription of the castles, churches, and abbeys of England. 

The drawings are dated 1772, and were executed by 
Lieutenant Bond, whose son entered the service of the 
firm when fourteen, and died whilst still in their employ- 
ment aged eighty-four. 

The present head of the firm is Mr. Ernest Abram, who 
is always delighted to show his treasures to strangers 
who appreciate such things. 

The iron pillars upon which the house partly rests are 
said to be those which Johnson, with that eccentricity not 
always confined to genius, religiously touched on his way 
through the Lane. 

Nos. 2 and 3, Middle Temple Lane, were also standing 
in 1733, and were probably in existence, together with the 
Old Post House, at the time of Pawlet's gate-house. 

CHILD'S PLACE 

Immediately opposite, on the site of a modern extension 
of Child's Bank, stood a row of small houses known as 
Child's Place, so called after the wealthy goldsmith of 
Charles II. 's time, whose premises with the sign of "Ye 
Marygold" in Fleet Street adjoined the Temple. Entrance 
was gained by a narrow passage from Fleet Street. 

In 1739 F. Child is charged los. for a drain running from 
the Palgrave's Head Court, now the site of Lloyds Bank. 



BUILDINGS I\ THE MIDDLE TEMPLE 273 

At Child's Bank, then " Blanchard and Child, Gold- 
smiths," Charles himself banked, and Nell Gwynne, 
Samuel Pepys, and Prince Rupert, whose valuable jewels 
were disposed of by Francis Child in a lottery, the King" 
himself distributing the tickets amongst the lords and 
ladies of the Court. In the old ledgers may still be read 
the items of the sums paid to Charles for the sale of 
Dunkirk to the French. 

Here too Roger North took the Lord Keeper Guilford's 
fees, which were kept in his skull caps, the gold in one, 
the silver crowns, half-crowns, and smaller coins in 
others. 

In his Tale of Two Cities Dickens has described Child's 
Bank under the name of " Telson's " : — 

"Thus it had come to pass that Telson's was the 
triumphant perfection of inconvenience. After bursting 
open a door of idiotic obstinacy with a weak rattle in its 
throat, you fell into Telson's down two steps, and came 
to your senses in a miserable little shop with two little 
counters, where the oldest of men made your cheque 
shake as if the wind rustled it, while they examined the 
signature by the dingiest of windows, which were always 
under a shower bath of mud from Fleet Street, and which 
were made dingier by their own iron bars and the heavy 
shadow of Temple Bar. If your business necessitated 
your seeing ' the House,' you were put into a species of 
condemned hold at the back, where you meditated on a 
misspent life until the House came with hands in its 
pockets, and you could hardly blink at it in the dismal 



twilight." 



THE DEVIL'S TAVERN 



Child's Place was on part of the site of the ancient 
Devil's Tavern, which had stood next to Child's on the 
east since the days of James I., and here the firm erected 
the row of houses mentioned above. 

The Devil's Tavern, or No. 2, Fleet Street, flaunted the 
sign of St. Dunstan tweaking the devil's nose. Here Ben 
T 



274 THE INNER AND MIDDLE TEMPLE 

Jonson presided over the Apollo Club, one of the first 
institutions of the kind in London, and here with Shake- 
speare, Fletcher, and Beaumont and other kindred spirits, 
must have spent many a merry evening. 

In Charles II. 's days the " Devil" became the haunt of 
the lawyers and doctors. Here Steele and Bickerstaff 
used to meet. Here Swift dined with Addison and Garth, 
and here Colley Cibber, the poet laureate, used to recite 
his verses. 

Nearly a century later the Royal Society held its annual 
dinner here, and in 1751, at the invitation of Dr. Johnson, 
a supper was given by the club to Mrs. Lennox, in 
celebration of her first novel, The Life of Harriet Stuart. 
In 1788 the old tavern was pulled down and absorbed by 
the bank. 

On the east side of the Temple Gate was a shop said 
to have been once occupied by the famous printer and 
publisher, Wynkyn de Worde, recently rebuilt, and now 
the premises of Messrs. Clowes and Sons, the well-known 
law publishers. This statement, for which Pennant is 
responsible, seems more than doubtful. In 1491 Wynkyn, 
who succeeded Caxton in his business at Westminster, 
removed to two houses next to St. Bride's Church, Fleet 
Street, in one of which he carried on his printing business. 
It was known by the sign of the "Sun." Shortly after 
he opened another shop in St. Paul's Churchyard, at the 
sign of " Divae Marie Pietatis." Even there his business 
increased so much that he was obliged to give out much 
of his work, so that it is quite possible that some of his 
works were printed, if not published, at the shop next to 
the Temple gateway. 

FOUNTAIN COURT 

Perhaps the most effective entrance into the Middle 
Temple is through the little wrought-iron gate out of 
Devereux Court in Essex Street into New Court, when 



Bl'ILDINGS IX THE MIDDI>E TEMPLE 275 

turning to the right we have at our feet Fountain Court, 
with its fountain immortalised by Charles Dickens in 
Martin Chuzslewi/, where John Westlock met Ruth 
Pinch: "Brilliantly the Temple Fountain sparkled in 
the sun, and laughing-ly its liquid music played, and 
merrily the idle drops of water danced and danced, and. 




The Little Gate of iiie iMiduli; Te.mim.e in New Court. 



peeping out in sport among the trees, plunged lightly 
down to hide themselves, as little Ruth and her companion 
came towards it." And as we stand with our minds full 
of such recollections, we are recalled to the stern realities 
of life by the sight of the tired faces of men and women 
seated on the benches beneath the trees, who come to this 
little oasis of old-world peace, to escape, for but a brief 



2^6 THE INNER AND MIDDLE TEMPLE 

moment, the noise and turmoil of the vast city outside 
its walls. 

Upon this scene Godfrey Turner has written in his 
"Temple Fountain," published in W. G. Thornbury's 
Two Centuries of Song — 

" And — when others fled from town to lake and moor and mountain — 
I have laid my trouble beside the Temple Fountain. 

Pledg-e me straight the Benchers all, and pledg-e them in a brimmer. 
May their lives be gladdened by the Fountain's pleasant shimmer, 
May their shadows not be less while hereabouts they linger, 
Holding friendlv button with communicative finger ; 
May the Fountain ages hence keep babbling still their praises ; 
Babbling, too, of pastures green, lambs, lovers' walks, and daisies." 

And beyond them all the terrace with its ancient Hall, 
where Queen Elizabeth danced and Shakespeare played ; 
the green garden slope, decked here and there with gay 
flower-beds ; the spot where Goldsmith wrote his Good- 
Natured Man, the stately library, the home of learning ; 
and further still the Embankment and the river, once the 
highway between Westminster and the City. 

Here is a beauty all its own ; no other place rivals its 
peculiar charm. 

BRICK COURT 

Retracing our steps and continuing down the lane, we 
come on our right to Brick Court, formerly known as 
Brick Buildings, so called, it is said, from being the first 
erections in brick in the Temple, and to which Spenser is 
supposed to allude in the lines from the Prothalamion, 
when, speaking of the wedding retinue of the Ladies 
Somerset, they reached at last — 

" Those bricky towers. 
The which on Themmes brode aged back doe ride. 
Where now the studious lawyers have their bowers, 
There whilome went the Temple Knights to bide, 
Till they decayed through pride." 



BUILDINGS IN THE MIDDLE TEMPLE 277 

If this be so, then Brick Buildings, said to have been 
erected in the eleventh year of Elizabeth, rival the "Old 
Post House " in antiquity, and here Goldsmith wrote his 
immortal works and revelled, whilst the learned Black- 
stone toiled below, and next door, a century later, Mr. 




Nos 1 ^ i • 
Brick Cov/rt * 



Charles Russell "got up" his briefs, the greatest advocate 
of modern times, destined to be known as one of the 
greatest of a long line of eminent Chief Justices. 

Goldsmith's first chambers in the Temple were on the 
old library staircase, the present site of 2, Garden Court, 
which he is said by Prior to have shared with Jeffs, the 
butler of the Inn. He then appears to have removed to 



278 THE INNER AND MIDDLE TEMPLE 

Gray's Inn in 1764, and shortly after, according to both 
Prior and Mitford, took chambers for a short period at 
3, King's Bench Walk. In 1765, however, he was 
permanently established in chambers at 2, Brick Court, 
up "two pair right." Flush with the proceeds of the 
Good-Natured Man, he had purchased these chambers for 
^400, and furnished them extravagantly with furniture up- 
holstered in blue velvet, showy carpets, and gilt mirrors. 
Here he spent his money faster than he made it, in dinners 
to Johnson, Percy Reynolds, Bickerstaflf, Francis, Dr. 
Arne, and other literary celebrities, and in supper parties 
to young people of both sexes, much to the discomfiture 
of the studious Blackstone, whose chambers were then 
just below, and who, then hard at work on the fourth 
volume of his famous Cojumentaries, complained 
bitterly of the racket made "by his revelling neighbour." 
Blackstone's successor, Mr. Children, made a similar 
complaint. 

Goldsmith describes how from his window he used to 
watch the rooks. "I have often," he writes, "amused 
myself with observing their plan of policy from my 
window in the Temple that looks upon a grove where 
they have made a colony in the midst of a city." The 
elms in Elm Court were the "grove," long since cut 
down. 

In these chambers Goldsmith died in 1774, to the grief 
of all those in the Temple, to whom he had endeared 
himself, and was carried to his last resting-place in 
Churchyard Court through groups of weeping women. 
So little did the Benchers value him that all trace of his 
tomb disappeared, and the low tombstone now in position 
only approximately covers his remains. 

In these chambers twenty years later a Miss Broderick 
shot her lover, Mr. Eddington, who had deserted her. 

The sundials are a special feature of the Temple, with 
their quaint moral precepts. 



BUILDINGS IN THE MIDDLE TEMPLE 279 

"Swift flew the busy hours and swift 
Their quiet shadows round the dials moved, 
That in the Temple courtyards faced the sun." 

Here in Brick Court the passer-by is informed that 
"Time and tide tarry for no man," and from this time- 
piece Goldsmith must often have taken the hour. This 
sundial replaced an older one which perished in the fire 




Goldsmith's 
Tomb* 

at the beginning- of the eighteenth century, a fire com- 
memorated by the following inscription : " Phoenicis instar 
revivisco: Martino Ryder, Thesaurario, 1704." The earlier 
dial bore the odd motto, " Begone about your business," 
said to have been addressed by an absent-minded Trea- 
surer of the dav to the lad from the dial-maker, who had 
come for an appropriate inscription. 

This explanation is ingenious, but highly improbable. 



28o THE INNER AND MIDDLE TEMPLE 

This motto is one well known to archaeologists, and is 
characteristic of such reminders of the flight of time and 
the necessity of punctuality. It may be seen to-day on 
the sundial upon a buttress of the church of St. James at 
Bury St. Edmunds, as well as elsewhere. 

Goldsmith, like Johnson, although living in the midst of 
the law, does not appear to have held a very high opinion 
of the lawyers of his day, for we find him saying in 
The Good-Natiired Man that ' ' lawyers are always more 
ready to get a man into troubles than out of them." 

The name of Blackstone is now inseparably connected 
with the study of English law, although we must not 
forget the obligations under which he lies to his pre- 
decessors, Viner, Comyns, Bacon, Hawkins, Hale, and 
RoUe, from whose works, after the manner of legal 
writers, whole paragraphs are bodily lifted. 

Called by the Middle Temple in 1746, his progress at 
the Bar was slow, and it was his lectures, which formed 
the basis of his great work, that brought him into public 
notice. 

In 1763 he became Solicitor-General to the Queen and 
a Master of the Bench. Returned in the new Parliament 
of 1768, he declined the office of Solicitor-General, but in 
1770 accepted a judgeship. His Commentaries appeared 
in the years 1768-9. 

Whether driven away by his roistering neighbour or 
for some other reason, Blackstone left Brick Court and 
occupied the ground floor left at 3, Pump Court, the 
window of his room looking out into Elm Court. 

Though a sober man, Blackstone is said by Lord 
Stowell to have composed his Commentaries with a bottle 
of port before him, and to have had his mind invigorated 
and supported in the fatigue of his great work by a 
moderate use of it. Other days, other manners. Few 
modern physicians would prescribe this medicine for a 
tired brain. 



BUILDINGS IN THE MIDDLE TEMPLE 281 

At Oxford Blackstone became the first Vinerian Pro- 
fessor, an office founded upon the bequest of the copy- 
rig-ht of Viner's Abridgment to the University by the 
author. 

Another disting-uished occupant of Brick Court a century 
later was Sir Wilham Reynell Anson, Bart., m.p., a suc- 
cessor of Blackstone in the Vinerian Chair, a well-known 
figure in modern Oxford, whose book on Contract is in- 
dispensable to law students. Sir William was called to 
the Bar in i86g by the Inner Temple. He occupied 
chambers at No. i, rendered famous by the names of 
Coleridge and Bowen. 



THE HALL 

Below the terrace lies the noble Hall of the Middle 
Temple. It was commenced in 1562, completed ten years 
later during the Treasurership of Plowden, the famous 
jurist, and opened in 1576 by Elizabeth in person. In 
1757 the exterior was " improved " in wretched taste by a 
casing of stone, and its original red-brick character thus 
destroyed. But even so it remains a fine building. The 
interior, fortunately, has escaped the "improver's" 
sacrilegious hand. The hammer-beam roof is considered 
by competent architects to be "the best Elizabethan roof 
in London," and the oak screen, erected 1574, is a 
magnificent piece of Renaissance workmanship. Its 
cost must have been something very considerable, and 
for many years the Benchers were hard put to in finding 
the wherewithal to discharge their liabilities. But in this 
instance we may well pardon such reckless extravagance. 
In the assessment for the screen "the common attorneys" 
are included in the list, and are assessed at \os. a head, 
which would seem to show that the rule of the Inner 
Temple excluding attorneys from the fellowship of their 
House had not yet been adopted. 



282 THE INNEll AND MIDDLE TEMPLE 

The following" doggerel certainly hits oflF the chief 
physical characteristics of each society : — ■ 

" Gray's Inn for walks, 
Lincoln's Inn for a wall, 
The Inner Temple for a g^arden. 
And the Middle for a hall." 

This fine chamber measures lOO feet in length and 42 
in breadth, whilst from the floor to the spring of the 
louvre is 50 feet. The entrance tower is a comparatively 
recent addition. It was erected from the designs of 
James Savage the architect, in 1831. Below the windows 
formerly stood bronze busts of the twelve Caesars, but 
these have been replaced by sets of body armour and 
weapons dating from the seventeenth century, and 
perhaps forming part of the armoury of the military 
companies attached to the Inn. In the middle of the 
Hall below the dais is a serving table, made from the 
timbers of Drake's ship, the celebrated Golden Hind. 

The walls are wainscoted up to the window-sills, and, 
as in the sister Hall, the arms and names of the Readers 
are painted upon the paneUing, commencing with Richard 
Swain, Reader in 1597. 

The Hall was refloored in 1730, and when the old boards 
were removed nearly one hundred pairs of small dice, 
yellow with age, which had dropped through the chinks, 
were discovered. The present tables and forms were 
provided at the same time. The ancient louvre or lantern 
in the roof, to give vent to the smoke from the great pile 
of charcoal beneath, gave place in 1732 to "a new cupola 
with a vane," which is represented in the engravings in 
the works of Ireland and Herbert, but which in its turn 
has been displaced in favour of the present louvre by 
Hakewill, a restoration to be highly commended. The 
ancient hearth and louvre were, as we learn from the 
Gentleman's Magazine, still in use in the year 181 2. In 



BUILDINGS IN THE MIDDLE TEMPLE 283 

the two bay windows flanking either side of the west end 
are some fine examples of ancient heraldry, one at least 
dating" back to 1540, probably a relic from the old Hall. 
Amongst others are the arms of Chancellors Cowper, 
Somers, and Hardwicke, Lord Chief Justice Kenyon, 
John Dunning, Lord Ashburton, Sir Richard Pepper 
Arden, William Scott, Lord Stowell and his brother. 
Lord Chancellor Eldon. Plowden's arms are to be found 
in the middle of the top lights, beneath which is an 
inscription in a pair of hexameters, with the date 1573, 
commemorating his zealous attention in the erection of 
the Hall : "Hoc perfecit opus legum cultoribus hujus 
maxima cura viri ; sit honos hiis omne per aevum," 

In the south bay is a large leaden coffer with the lid 
made from the timber from the old Temple Bridge or 
Stairs, first erected, as the inscription asserts, by the 
Knights Templars, restored by order of Edward HI. in 
1 33 1, and repaired with the aid of Elizabeth in 1584. 
The arms of His Majesty King Edward VH. will be 
found in the middle window on the south, set there when 
he was Prince of Wales, whilst adjoining are those of 
the late Duke of Clarence, who, like his father, was also 
a Bencher of the Middle. 

Above the Bench table hangs the celebrated portrait of 
Charles I. by Van Dyck. The attendant in this painting 
holding the King's helmet is thought by some to be the 
Duke d'Epernon, but it is more probably Mons. de 
St. Antoine, equerry to the King of France, who was 
sent to England by Louis XHI. with six horses as a 
present to Charles. Other portraits are those of 
Charles H., by Sir Godfrey Kneller, and of his brother 
James, Duke of York, of William HI., of Anne, by 
Murray, of Elizabeth, and of the first two Georges. 

Above these paintings hang two colours, one belonging 
to an old Inns of Court corps, and the other an old Jack 
prior to the Union in 1801. A recent addition is the 



284 THE INNER AND MIDDLE TEMPLE 

electric light in the form of groups of flambeaux stuck 
on the walls in the ancient fashion. 

The esteem in which this historic chmaber was held 
soon after its erection is shown by the fact that in 1610 
the Fellows of Trinity College, Cambridge, modelled their 
beautiful Hall after that of the Middle Temple, following 
in its erection almost precisely the same scale of measure- 
ment. 

From the floor of the Minstrel Gallery is suspended a 
handsome brass lantern, said to be of equal antiquity 
to the Hall, the glass lights bearing the arms of Elizabeth, 
Raleigh, Drake, and the two crests of the Knights 
Templars, the two men on one horse and the Agnus 
Dei. 

A curious discovery was made in the Hall in the autumn 
of 1894, during the process of installing the electric light. 
When the wires were being carried up the structural walls 
of the Hall a box was found concealed in a recess of the 
wall near the roof, containing a skeleton in a state of 
perfect preservation. From its appearance, it is surmised 
that it must have been hidden here for upwards of 200 
years. Whether it had been used to illustrate anatomical 
lectures or was the victim of some tragedy will probably 
never be determined. 

In connection with dining in Hall a curious old custom 
still survives in the Middle Temple. The panyer-man was 
the official whose duty it was to fetch the bread from 
Westminster, and then sound his horn in all the courts to 
call members to dinner from their chambers. To this 
day at 5.30 p.m. the panyer-man in full uniform, with his 
silver-mounted ox-horn, solemnly summons the members 
to dinner. The waiters in the Inner Temple are still 
called panyer-men. 

On the outside, at the west end of the Hall, formerly 
stood a row of shops or sheds, six in number. In 1731 
these were in the occupation of two persons, a barber 



BUILDINGS IN THE MIDDLE TEMPLE 285 

and a stocking-weaver. These shops are shown in the 
early eighteenth -century prints, but do not appear in 
Ireland's engraving- of the Hall in 1800. 

THE PARLIAMENT CHAMBERS 

The Benchers' chambers are gained through a pair of 
ancient carved oak doors, relics of the old Hall in Pump 
Court. A long corridor leads to the Parliament Chamber, 
a fine room where hang portraits of Edward Hyde, Earl 
of Clarendon, the great historian ; Sir Walter Raleigh ; 
John Scott, Lord Eldon ; Lord Chancellor Somers ; 
Richard Bethell, Lord Westbury ; Lord Chancellor Hard- 
wicke ; Earl Cowper, Lord Chancellor ; Frederick, Prince 
of Wales, father of George HI., who expended ^21,000 
on a Readers' Feast, lasting over a week ; and Francis 
North, Baron Guildford. Here also hangs a full-length 
portrait of His Majesty King Edward VH. from the brush 
of Mr. Frank Holl, r.a,, painted in 1884. The walls of 
the corridor are hung with ancient armour and weapons, 
and lined with engravings of eminent lawyers connected 
with the Inn. There are also numerous engravings and 
prints of the Temple Church and old buildings and courts 
in the Temple. Here, too, is the original oil painting of 
Fountain Court by Nichols. 

Just outside the door of the Parliament Chamber stands 
a pedestal covered with ancient tiles taken from the floor 
of the church. Upon this pedestal rests a Greek sepul- 
chral monument, which was brought to light during the 
excavations about the church at the restoration in 1842. 
It belongs to the third century, as is shown by the 
formation of the letters, by the sign of *^ for the Roman 
Denarii, and by the penalty for violating the tomb to be 
given partly to the Imperial Treasury. The inscription in 
Greek, so far as it has been deciphered, runs as follows: — 

" I have erected this monument to my husband, M. 
Curtius Theseus, and I will not allow any other to be 



286 THE INNER AND MIDDLE TEMPLE 

placed herein — and if any shall do so, let him pay to 
the (Imperial) Treasury 2,500 Denarii and to the city of 
Histioea 2,500 more. 

"A Thracian I was of noble birth, named M. Curtius 
Theseus, and I married a daughter of Seia of Orea, a girl 
innocent and rich." 

Histicea was a city in Boeotia, and Orea was a neigh- 
bouring town. The stone is evidently a relic of the 
Roman occupation of Britain, but how it came upon the 
Temple land remains a mystery. 

Another object of interest is a cabinet made from the 
wood of a catalpa tree, said to have been planted by Sir 
Matthew Hale, which formerly grew on the site of the 
modern buildings known as Temple Gardens. 

In one of the rooms is a painting known as "The 
Judgment of Solomon," an early Venetian work said to 
be by Palma Vecchio. 

A fresh interest was added to this historic building by 
the discovery in 1828, among the Harleian Manuscripts at 
the British Museum, of the diary of a student of the Inn, 
John Manningham, On the 2nd February, 1602, he 
writes : " At our feast we had a play called Twelve Night, 
or What You Will, much like the Comedy of Errors^ or 
Mencechmi in Plautus ; but most like and neere to that in 
Italian called Inganni.'''' This performance formed part 
of the Post Revels, which immediately followed the Christ- 
mas Revels. 

John Manningham was the adopted son of Richard Man- 
ningham, a City merchant, of Bradbourne, near Maidstone. 
Richard was twice married, first to a Dutch lady, a con- 
nection of Lady Palavicini, wife of Sir Oliver Cromwell, 
uncle of the Protector, and secondly to a Kentish widow, 
by neither of whom had he any issue. John, his heir, 
was admitted as member of the Middle in 1597. He 
married Anne, the sister of his chamber-fellow, Edward 
Curie, a protege of Sir Robert Cecil, through whom he 



BUILDINGS IN THE MIDDLE TEMPLE 287 

became auditor of the Court of Wards. Their son Richard, 
upon his succession to the family estate of Bradbourne, 
sold it in 1656 to Mr. Justice Twisden, of the Inner. 

A fellow-student with John Manning^ham was John 
Pym, the famous statesman and orator. He was ad- 
mitted in 1602, and Manning-ham in his diary gives the 







MDDLE • TEMPIX * HALL* 



following description of him at this period : — " I was in 
Mr. Nich. Hare's companie at the King's Head. A gallant 
young gentleman like to be heir to much land : he is of a 
sweet behaviour, a good spirit, and a pleasing discourse." 
•'After dinner," says Charles Knight, the Shakespearian 
enthusiast, "a play, and that play Shakespere's Twelfth 



288 THE INNER AND MIDDLE TEMPEE 

Night. And the actual roof under which the happy com- 
pany of benchers, barristers, and students first listened to 
that joyous and exhilarating- play, full of the truest and 
most beautiful humanities, especially fitted for a season of 
cordial mirthfulness, is still standing. Here Shakespere's 
Twelfth Night was acted in the Christmas of 1601 ; and 
here its exquisite poetry first fell upon the ear of some 
secluded scholar, and was to him as a fragrant flower 
blooming amidst the arid sands of his Bracton and his 
Fleta ; and here its gentle satire upon the vain and the 
foolish penetrated into the natural heart of some gfrave 
and formal dispenser of justice, and made him look with 
tolerance, if not with sympathy, upon the mistakes of less 
grave and formal fellow-men ; and here its ever-gushing- 
spirit of enjoyment — of fun without malice, of wit without 
g-rossness, of humour without extravagance — taught the 
swaggering, roaring, overgrown boy, miscalled student, 
that there were higher sources of mirth than affrays in 
Fleet Street or drunkenness in Whitefriars." 

That Shakespeare on this occasion took an active part 
is not improbable, since he was then a member of the 
Globe company, which alone was capable of producing 
his plays. In any case, he may well have been present. 
And here, too, Elizabeth must have come, accompanied 
by her Court, to witness the plays, or to lead the dance 
with Christopher Hatton or some equally comely courtier. 
We can well picture the Virgin Queen in this stately Hall, 
the centre of a brilliant group of statesmen and lawyers, 
soldiers and sailors, poets and courtiers. The figures are 
before us of the prudent and wise Burleigh, and the g-rave 
Lord Chancellor Hatton ; the skilful Cecil, first Earl of 
Salisbury, the one-time friend of Raleigh ; Raleigh him- 
self, statesman, soldier by land and sea, scholar, poet, 
historian, philosopher, and courtier ; Francis Drake, the 
g-allant seaman ; the chivalrous Sidney ; Thomas Sackville, 
Chancellor of Oxford ; William Howard, Lord High 



BIII.UINGS IN THE MIDDLE TEMPLE 289 

Admiral, and a host of others of greater or less renown. 
Under what different circumstances had many of these 
previously met and were yet to meet again ! 

In Westminster Hall, on the 19th February, 1600, sat 
Thomas Sackville, Lord Buckhurst, as High Steward of 
England, for the trial of Essex and Southampton for 
high treason, and with him sat Lord Chief Justice 
Popham, who succeeded Plowden as Treasurer of the 
Middle, and Lord Chief Justice Anderson, a former 
Treasurer of the Inner, other puisne judges, and Raleigh 
amongst the Commissioners. For the Crown appeared 
Serjeant Yelverton and Sir Edward Coke, Attorney- 
General, and among their witnesses were Robert Cecil 
and Walter Raleigh. 

A few years later, and the scene shifts to the Com- 
mission of Oyer and Terminer holden at Winton, on the 
17th November, 1603, and the prisoner at the bar is 
Sir Walter Raleigh. Amongst the Commissioners sat 
Robert Cecil, now Earl of Salisbury, who had made his 
peace with James, Popham, and Anderson ; and in the 
jury-box an obsequious jury. Serjeant Heale and Sir 
Edward Coke were for the Crown, but so weak was the 
case for the prosecution that Coke had to eke out the 
poverty of his cause by the vilest personal abuse ever 
used, I trust, by any counsel, not even excepting the foul- 
mouthed Jeffreys. Raleigh's conduct, on the contrary, 
was dignified and refined, and his ready wit never deserted 
him. Amongst other choice epithets used by Coke were 
"monster," "foul viper," and "spider of hell." 

"Thou Viper, I thou thee, thou Traitor! " cried Coke. 

To which Raleigh replied with a dignity that the Bench, 
as a whole, sadly lacked, " It becometh not a man of 
Quality and Virtue to call me so; but I take comfort in it, 
it is all you can do." 

The trial was a mere judicial farce, the evidence was of 
the flimsiest, and Sir John Popham seems to have thought 
u 



290 THE INNER AND MIDDLE TEMPLE 

so too when, in delivering- the judgment of the Court, he 
said, " I never saw the like Tryal, and hope I shall never 
see the like again," 

Raleigh took the objection that two witnesses were 
necessary to prove a charge of high treason, and that 
they must both be produced in Court, but the objection 
was overruled by Popham. This had been enacted by 5 
and 6 Edw. VI. c. xi., but was supposed to have been 
repealed by i and 2 Ph. and M. c. 10. Raleigh's con- 
tention was confirmed by 7 and 8 Wm. III. c. 3, 

And so he passed to the Tower, for fourteen weary 
years a State prisoner. Then came his expedition to 
Guiana, destined from the first to failure by the treachery 
of the pusillanimous James, and on the 29th October, 
1618, in Old Palace Yard at Westminster, he fell a victim 
to the undying vengeance of a cowardly and avaricious 
king, for James never forgave Raleigh's share in obtain- 
ing the conviction of Essex. 

And the Benchers recognised his greatness, for Raleigh 
was a Middle Templar, by holding a banquet in his 
honour. How the students must have made the old Hall 
ring again with cheers for the guest of the evening ! 

Raleigh actually resided in chambers in the Temple in 
the year 1576, as appears from the dedication of a satire 
inscribed to him by George Gascoyne. 

THE LIBRARY 

The new library lies at the foot of the slope south- 
west of the Hall. It is a Gothic structure, and was 
desio-ned by Mr. H. R. Abraham. Viewed from Fountain 
Court, its proportions appear perfectly symmetrical, but 
from the gardens its height is so out of proportion to its 
size as to be positively unsightly. The library itself 
forms the second floor, the ground and first floors being 
used as offices, chambers, and lecture rooms. 

Crossing a bridge, the archway of which gives access 



BUILDINGS IN THE MIDDLE TEMPLE 291 

to the garden, and ascending a winding staircase in an 
octagonal tower, the visitor enters somewhat unexpectedly 
a remarkably fine chamber, with an open hammer-beam 
roof, the principal ribs of which rest on massive stone 
corbels, very similar in design to those in Westminster 
Hall. This apartment measures 85 feet in length by 42 
in width, and 63 feet to the apex of the roof. At the 
south end is a fine oriel window projecting 10 feet. This 
is decorated with heraldic glass containing the arms of 
the royal princes from Richard Coeur de Lion to his 
present Majesty when Prince of Wales. The windows at 
the north end and at the sides are similarly enriched. 
The new building was opened by His Majesty when 
Prince of Wales on October 31st, 1861, when the Duke 
of Cambridge, Lord Brougham, Lord Westbury, and 
other distinguished men were present. 

Of the original library we have not much knowledge. 
It was probably only a room in a set of chambers. 

That there was such a library prior to the reign of 
Henry VI H. we learn from the Cotton MSS., which 
contain the following reference : — 

" They have now no library, so that they cannot attaine 
to the knowledge of divers learnings, but to their great 
charges by the buying of such bookes as they lust to 
study. They had a simple library, in which were not 
many bookes besides the law, and that the library by 
meanes that it stood alwayes open, and that the learners 
had not each of them a key unto it, it was at last robbed 
and spoiled of all the bookes of it." 

This reproach, however, was wiped out in the reign of 
Charles I. by the generosity of Robert Ashley, a collateral 
ancestor of the late Earl of Shaftesbury, and for upwards 
of fifty years a Fellow of the Middle. Dying in 164 1, he 
bequeathed his library to the Inn, together with ^300, 
" by the interest whereof some able student being chosen 
by the Bench to be the Governour or Keeper of the said 



292 THE INNER AND MIDDLE TEMPLE 

Library might be better maintained." Another benefactor 
was William Petyt, of the Inner, who bequeathed ;^5o. 

A library had already been erected in the year 1625, 
on the site of the present buildings in Garden Court, 
where, as we have seen, Goldsmith first lived. It is 
described by Worsley as being over the kitchen at No. 2, 
Garden Court. This building probably owed its existence 
to Sir Robert Ashley's exertions. A portrait, said by 
Sir William Musgrave to be that of Sir Robert, used to 
hang in this building, and is now in the new library. 

At this period the space below the old library was 
a mere piece of waste, but in the year that the " Martyr 
King " perished on the scaffold it was laid out at the 
expense of the younger members of the Inn as a garden. 

An account of the condition of the library in 17 17 
is given by Henry Carey, a member of Lincoln's Inn, 
in a letter of complaint to his patron, the Earl of Oxford. 
Carey had been appointed Clerk to the Chapel of Lincoln's 
Inn, and at the same time Keeper of the Library of the 
Middle Temple. Apparently for political reasons he was 
dismissed from those appointments ; hinc illae lacrimae. 
In the library, he says, " I employed myself in regulating 
and reducing to decency and order a place which, through 
long neglect, was become a perfect chaos of paper and 
a wilderness of books, which were mixed and misplaced 
to such a degree that it was next to an impossibility 
to find out any particular book without tumbling over the 
whole. This undertaking cost me above twelve months' 
hard labour and pains, besides money out of my own 
pocket to transcribers. However, I went forward with 
the greater alacrity, because Mr. Ludlow, then Treasurer, 
encouraged me by repeated promises (which I now may 
call specious and empty) of reward when completed, 
as now it is, I having made a new catalogue in five 
alphabets with columns (all of my own invention) of all 
the tracts contained in the library, which catalogue 




u 

J 



o 

« 
O 
Q 

5 
« 

o 
o 



BUILDINGS IN THE MIDDLE TEMPLE 293 

is in 100 sheets in folio, and the books are now so 
reg'ularly ranged and the catalogue so plain, easy, and 
exact, that anybody may go directly from it to any 
required book or pamphlet without any difficulty or 
hesitation ; so that not only the catalogue but even the 
library itself are evident demonstrations of my labour 
and instances of their ingratitude to me, who egged 
me on to this work without rewarding me for it." 

In this sad case, so far as I know, virtue was the sole 
reward. 

At the commencement of the last century John Herbert, 
author of the Antiquities of the Inns of Court and Chancery^ 
was librarian. 

The library now consists of 40,000 to 50,000 volumes, 
but neither in extent nor in comfort and seclusion can 
it compare with that of the Inner Temple. As a piece 
of architecture, however, the Middle easily carries avv'ay 
the palm. The present librarian is Mr. John Hutchinson, 
who may fittingly lay claim to the title of the "Temple 
Bard." 

GARDEN COURT 

Upon the site of the present fountain lay the Benchers' 
Garden, the remainder of Fountain Court between the 
Hall and the chambers in Essex Court and Brick 
Court being known as the Hall Court. Just south of 
the Benchers' Garden stretched another garden, as 
shown in Ogilby's Plan, and upon this buildings were 
subsequently erected. Here the old library was lodged, 
and here Goldsmith lived, as we have seen, with Jeffs, 
the butler. 

In 1830 all these old buildings east of the garden were 
swept away and new edifices erected in their stead. The 
latter, in their turn, were displaced in 1883 by the present 
buildings, which are in pleasing harmony with their 
surroundings. 



294 THE INNER AND MIDDLE TEMPLE 

TEMPLE GARDENS 

At the foot of Middle Temple Lane, almost upon the 
site of the old Temple Stairs, rises an enormous pile of 
building-s, erected in 1861 at the ioint expense of the 
two societies. Through the archway over which it 
stands access is gained to the Embankment. In its 




erection a great opportunity was lost. A finer site 
could not be conceived. In the place of a Renaissance 
building more in touch with the genins loci we have a 
structure only vulgar in its ornateness, and entirely out 
of place. Contrast this with such buildings as the 
Bishop's Palace at Evreux, the Palais de Justice at 



BUILDINGS IN THE xMIDDLE TEMPLE 295 

Chateauroux, the Hotel de Ville at Compiegne, the early 
Renaissance portion of the Chateau of Blois, the 
Chateau of Azay le Rideau, the beautiful facade of Hotel 
Jacques Coeur at Bourges, and a score of other equally 
beautiful types, with this vulgar monstrosity, and one 
is appalled at the utter lack of taste shown by the 
Benchers of the day. 

Of the so-called Outer Temple I have already spoken. 
Some of it now forms an integral portion of the Middle. 
This locality appears to have derived its name from the 
fact that it stood outside the City boundaries, beyond 
Temple Bar. 

We learn from Stow's Annals that the Outward Temple 
was got by Stapleton, Bishop of Exeter, in the reign of 
Edward II., and was then called Exeter Inn. From 
Stapleton it passed to Lord Paget, from whom it was 
purchased by the Duke of Norfolk, who conveyed it to 
the Earl of Leicester, the "Sweet Robin" of Queen Bess, 
from whom it passed by devise to Sir Robert Dudley, who 
in turn sold it to the Earl of Essex. 

Then arose Essex House, fronting the Strand on the 
north, with its water-gate on the south, still standing at 
the bottom of the new Essex Street, and with its garden 
running down through Essex Court, Fountain Court, and 
Garden Court. Here the Earl took measures for raising 
London against the Queen, and here, on the failure of his 
plans, he shut himself up, and here he surrendered, and 
hence was led away to his trial and execution. 

It was of this mansion that Spenser wrote the lines : — 

" Near to the Temple stands a stately place, 
Where I gayned giites and the goodly grace 
Of that great lord who there was wont to dwell, 
Whose want too well now feels my friendless case ; 
Hilt, ah ! here fits not well 
Old woes." 



296 THE INNER AND MIDDLE TEMPLE 

Upon the attainder of Essex it reverted to the Crown, 
but was restored by James L to his son, on whose death 
without issue it passed to his sister, the Duchess of 
Somerset, and to his other sister's son. Sir Robert 
Shirley. Partition was made of the Essex estates, and 
Essex House fell to the Duchess, who by will devised it 
to Thomas Thynn, Viscount Sidmouth, by whom it was 
sold to Dr. Barbon, brother of "Praise God Barebones." 
In 1676 Barbon sold a portion of it to the Middle Temple, 
viz. the site of the west building-s in Garden Court, the 
whole of New Court, and a strip of Essex Court. Upon 
the other portion he built Essex Street in 1680. The 
water-gate at the bottom is said to be that belonging to 
Essex House, but its appearance is more in consonance 
with the later date of 1680. 

Part of Essex House was standing in 1777, and here 
Essex, the great Parliamentarian general, was born and 
also died ; and here Sir Orlando Bridgman lived when 
holding the Great Seal. 

Thus has perished an historic house, with many 
another along the river's side. Well may we join in 
Gay's lament : — 

" Here Arundel's famed structure reared its frame; 
The street alone retains an empty name. 

There Essex's stately pile adorned the shore ; 
There Cecil's, Bedford's, Villiers' — now no more." 

MIDDLE TEMPLE LANE 

Barbon's Buildings, as we learn from a letter dated 
October 9th, 1689, from Ralph Palmer to Richard Verney, 
Esq., stood by the water-gate at the bottom of Middle 
Temple Lane on the western side. Palmer, who writes 
from "No. 3 up the steps and one pair of stairs, in 
Barbon's Buildings," relates how there were many false 
pressmen about, one of whom he saw "pumped last 




OLIVER GOLDSMITH 



BUILDINGS IN THE MIDDLE TEMPLE 297 

nig-ht in the Temple," from which it would appear that 
the Temple pumps were not always used for their natural 
and legitimate purposes. This would place these build- 
ings just below the present No, 3, Plowden Buildings, the 
water-gate standing much higher up the lane than the 




IvUDDLE TLMPLi: LiVNE ' South' 

present archway. Barbon's Buildings may have been the 
" good fair fabrick " erected in 1653. 

The first half of the seventeenth century was a busy 
one for building operations by the Middle Temple in the 
lane. In 161 1 a brick building on the east side was 
erected at the joint expense of Sir Walter Cope and Sir 
Arthur Gorge, but so flimsy was its construction that in 
1629 it was ordered to be rebuilt. 



298 THE INNER AND MIDDLE TEMPLE 

ELM COURT 

The new building thus erected would appear to have 
been the west side of Elm Court, in which more chambers 
were built in 1630, together with those over the church 
porch. 

The brothers North had chambers in here. By the 
year 1879 all these buildings were so dilapidated as to be 
in danger of falling by their own weight. They were 
accordingly pulled down, and the present chambers erected 
in the following year. Serjeant Talfourd, the intimate 
friend of Lamb, had chambers at No. 2. 

LUTHER BUILDING 

A brick building, called Luther Building, was erected in 
163 1 near the Middle Temple Gate by one Anthony Luther, 
an Utter barrister of the House. It seems to have vanished 
in the fire of 1678, and I am unable to identify its site. 

PLOWDEN BUILDINGS 
In the first year of Charles I. the brick buildings 
adjoining the Hall were constructed. These represent 
the present Nos. i, 2, and 3, Plowden Buildings. They 
probably replaced earlier structures. The present build- 
ings, in which the offices of the treasury of the society 
are situated, were erected in 1831, after the designs of 
Henry Hakewill, the architect. 

VINE COURT 

Between Fig Tree Court and the Cloisters, with a 
passage leading into Pump Court, lay Vine Court. 
Chambers were erected here in 1630 over the Cloisters, 
three stories in height, by Francis Tate, a member of the 
Middle, described as "of great learning in the laws, and 
eminent for his knowledge in antiquities."" Here in 



BUILDINGS IN THE MIDDLE TEMPLE 299 

1675 was the shop of Henry Twyford, the pubhsher of 
Brownlow and Goldesborough's Reports. Vine Court 
disappeared for ever in the fire of 1678. 

PUMP COURT 

One of the oldest courts in the Temple is said to be 
Pump Court. Its name and the fact that the old Hall of 
the Middle formed one side lend considerable weight to 
this tradition. 




R/MP(ovrh 



In 1630 a brick building completing the western side 
abutting on the lane was erected, and seven years later 
the remaining buildings in Pump Court and between Vine 
Court and Elm Court, and between Pump Court and the 
lane, were finished, thus completing the courts as we 
now know them, though some portions were afterwards 
destroyed by fire and rebuilt. 



300 THE LNNER AND MIDDLE TEMPLE 

The total cost of these building-s was ^4,668 11^. c)d. 
Each gentleman deposited ;^8o for a whole chamber and 
^40 for a half share. The balance came out of the Inn 
treasury, which put the House much in debt. 

Many celebrities have lived in Pump Court, amongst 
whom may be mentioned Cowper, Fielding, Blackstone, 




Sundial in Pump Court. 



Lord Russell of Killowen, and his successor, the present 
Lord Chief Justice. 

Nor must the sundial here be forgotten, with its motto, 
"Shadows we are and like shadows depart," to remind 
the residents of Pump Court of the ephemeral character 
of their occupancy. 



BUILDINGS IN THE MIDDLE TEMPLE 301 



ESSEX COURT 

The earliest record of Essex Court occurs in the diary 
of John Evelyn, who with his brother was admitted a 
member of the Middle Temple about the year 1640. " I 
repaired," he writes, "with my brother to the Tearme 
to go into the new lodgfing (that was formerly in Essex 
Court), being- a very handsome apartment just over 




WIG'MAKE^'S SHOP IN ESSEX CgVRI' 



against the Hall Court, but four payre of stayres high 
w'ch gave us the advantage of the fairer prospect." 
This building was replaced in 1656 by "a very large, 
high, spacious brick building," the present No. i or 
No. 2, Essex Court. 

The remaining buildings were erected in 1677, after 
the purchase of the site from Dr. Barbon. In 1883, 
however, the block of buildings on the north, which also 



302 THE INNER AND MIDDLE TEMPLE 

forms part of Brick Court, was rebuilt. On the north 
still stands a little shop where Albin the wig-maker carries 
on his business, one of the two survivors in the Temple of 
the barbers' shops. 

NEW COURT 
New Court consists of only one buildings, erected by 
Wren after the purchase of the land from Barbon. It is 
chiefly remarkable for the view obtained from here of the 
Middle Temple, a view unique in London, and for its 
g-ateway into Devereux Passage. 

THE CLOISTERS 

The old Cloisters were destroyed in the fire of 1678. 
These were " low mean building-s," about half the present 
width, and were not built over except at the end nearest 
the Hall. 

At the rebuilding after the fire the Benchers of the 
Middle wished to utilise the Cloisters themselves for 
ground-floor chambers, but this was prevented by Chan- 
cellor Finch, "who would," as Roger North relates, 
"by no means give way to it, and reproved the Middle 
Templars very wittily and eloquently upon the subject of 
students walking in evenings there, and putting cases, 
which he said was done in his time as mean and low 
as the buildings were then, however it comes, said he, 
that such a benefit to students is now made so little 
account of." 

The Cloisters, as they now stand, are the work of Sir 
Christopher Wren. In Pump Court the following in- 
scription may be seen : — 

" Vetustissima Templariorum Portion Igne consumpta 
An°. 1678. Nova haec sumptibus medij Templi extructa 
An°. 1681. Guilelmo Whitelocke : Arm. Thesaur°." 

Next to the staircase of No. i, with a window looking 
into Pump Court, is the shop of another wigmaker, a 



BUILDINGS IN THE ^MIDDLE TEMPLE 303 

successor to Dick Danby, the barber, a well-known 
character and gossip of the time of Lord Chancellor 
Campbell, who refers to him in his Lives of the Chief 
Justices. He it was who cut the future Lord Chancellor's 
hair and made his wig's, and, as Campbell adds, "aided 
him at all times with his valuable advice." 



THL CLOISTEJ^" 

GOLDSMITH BUILDING 

Like Lamb Building, Goldsmith Building, for some un- 
explained reason, although well within the huier Temple 
territory, is the property of the sister society. It has 
no connection with the poet beyond its proximity to his 
grave, and occupies the site of chambers which formed 
part of Churchyard Court. The present building was 
erected in 1861. Here Mr. Justice Bigham, when the 
leading " silk " in commercial cases, had chambers. 



304 THE INNER AND MIDDLE TEMPLE 

LAMB BUILDING 

The origin of Lamb Building' has already been referred 
to. Situated well within the boundaries of the Inner 
Temple, according to tradition, it became the property 
of the Middle Temple by purchase from the sister society, 
owing to the latter being short of ready cash. This 
change probably took place after the Great Fire, when 
Caesar's Buildings, which it replaced, were burned down. 

The court in which Lamb Building stands was origin- 
ally known as Cloister Court from its proximity to the 
Cloisters, which formed the western side, and is so 
described in Ogilby's Plan of 1677. 

To the north against the walls of the church, built in 
between the buttresses, was a row of chambers and 
shops, which were swept away in the improvements to 
the church in 1827, whilst on the south, against the Hall, 
stood a row of one-storied chambers known as Twisden's 
Buildings, belonging to the Inner Temple. 

About this time apparently, if not before, the court 
became known as Lamb Court, after the principal building 
there, which was popularly called Lamb Building, from 
the crest of the Agnus Dei over the entrance. It is a 
fine example of Jacobean architecture. Its principal 
feature is the doorway, reached by a flight of steps, 
guarded by plain iron railings. Above rests a wooden 
hood supported on brackets, ornamented with lions' 
heads, and on the pediment figures a gilded lamb and 
flag. 

Here that brilliant Oriental scholar. Sir William Jones, 
was an inmate after his call to the Bar by the Middle 
Temple in 1774. From here we find him dating his 
letters to Burke in the years 1779 to 1783, when he left 
for India upon his appointment as judge of the High 
Court at Calcutta. He was regarded by his contem- 
poraries as a prodigy of learning. 



BUILDINGS IN THE MIDDLE TEMPLE 305 

A colleg^e friend and chamber-fellow of Sir William, 
Thomas Day was called by the Middle Temple in 1775, 
but althoug-h he became a g-ood lawyer he never sought 
to practise. He was the gentle and eccentric author of 
that well-known book of our boyhood, Sandford and 




JLlvil aiAO/ 

Merton. Of his eccentricities not the least amusing- was 
his method of building- after a serious study of architec- 
ture. He astonished his builder by having- the walls built 
first and the windows knocked out afterwards ! 

His last residence was at Anningsley Park, near Addle- 
stone, in Surrey, where he was regarded with anything 
but favour by the local gentry and farmers. Yet Day 

X 



306 THE INNER AND MIDDLE TEMPLE 

was no prig. At Charterhouse he was a good boxer, and 
there fought WiUiam Seward, author of the Anecdotes. 
Discovering his antagonist to be no match for him, Day 
at once stopped the fight and shook hands with him. 

His ideas upon matrimony were as eccentric as those 
upon building. Whilst still in early manhood he con- 
ceived the remarkable project for providing himself with 
a wife. Selecting a blonde beauty, aged twelve, from 
an orphan asylum at Shrewsbury, and a corresponding 
brunette from the Foundling Hospital in London, he 
undertook to maintain and educate both, to marry one 
and provide for the other. Lucretia, the brunette, turned 
out invincibly stupid, so she was apprenticed to a milliner, 
and eventually married to a linendraper. The flaxen- 
haired Sabrina's career was less commonplace. To test 
her nerve, her eccentric guardian used to fire blank 
charges at her pretty ankles, and to drop melting sealing- 
wax on her bare arms. Of course Sabrina screamed, and 
was thus adjudged unequal to the high honour designed 
for her. She married Day's intimate friend Bicknell, and 
Day not only paid the forfeit — a dot of ^^500 — but after 
her husband's death settled an annuity upon her of ^^30, 

A member of Lincoln's Inn, Judah Philip Benjamin 
carried on his practice from the Temple. His chambers, 
too, were in Lamb Building, ground floor north. Called 
to the Bar at New Orleans in 1832, he was in high repute 
as a lawyer and an advocate. Later he did a leading 
business, chiefly at Washington, becoming Senator for 
Louisiana and Attorney-General of the Confederate States 
under President Davis. Escaping with difficulty after the 
break-up of the Confederacy, he came to England, and in 
1866 was called to the Bar by Lincoln's Lin, the usual 
three years' probation as a student being waived. He 
was a pupil for a time of the late Baron Pollock, at 
5, Child's Place. Subsequently this relationship was 
altered, Pollock frequently finding his way to Lamb 



BUILDINGS IN THE MIDDLE TEMPLE 307 

Building- to obtain instruction on points of Anglo- 
American jurisprudence. 

On one occasion Benjamin gave Pollock the whole of 
the law and practice upon a new system in the export 
trade from New York to Liverpool. Shortly after, in a 
case dealing with this very system, Pollock and Benjamin 
were on opposite sides, and judgment was given in favour 
of the former, who had used the arguments of the latter ! 

Benjamin's success at the Bar was phenomenal under 
the circumstances, and it speaks well for the members of 
the profession that not a single trace of jealousy ever 
appeared. In 1875 Benjamin became a Queen's Counsel, 
and there is little doubt he would have been raised to the 
Bench but for fear of offending American susceptibilities. 

On his retirement from practice through ill-health, a 
banquet in his honour was given in 1883 in the Inner 
Temple Hall. 

His magnum opus, known familiarly as Benjamin on 
Sale, will keep his memory alive for many generations of 
lawyers yet. 

No truer picture of Temple life has been penned than by 
Thackeray in Pendennis. It was in Lamb Building that 
Pen and Warrington occupied a set in the attics over the 
chambers of old Grump, of the Norfolk Circuit, whom 
they awakened every morning with the roar of their 
shower-baths, part of the contents of which used to 
trickle through the ceiling upon the unwashed Grump, 
who daily cursed such new-fangled, dandified folly. There 
is, it is true, a Pump Court and a Fountain Court, but 
no one ever heard of a Bencher disporting in the latter. 
"Nevertheless," writes Thackeray, "those venerable 
Inns, which have the lamb and flag and the winged 
horse for their ensigns, have attractions for persons who 
inhabit them, and a share of rough comforts and freedom 
which men always remember with pleasure. I don't know 
whether the student permits himself the refreshment of 



3o8 THE INNER AND MIDDLE TEMPLE 

enthusiasm, or indulg-es in poetical reminiscences as he 
passes by historical chambers, and says : ' Yonder Eldon 
lived ; upon this site Coke mused upon Lyttelton ; here 
Chitty toiled ; here Barnewall and Alderson joined in their 
famous labours ; here Byles composed his great work 
upon bills, and Smith compiled his immortal leading- 
cases; here Gustavus still toils, with Solomon to aid him '; 
but the man of letters can't but love the place which has 
been inhabited by so many of his brethren or peopled by 
their creations, as real to us at this day as the authors 
whose children they were ; and Sir Roger de Coverley 
walking in the Temple Garden and discoursing with 
Mr. Spectator about the beauties in hoops and patches 
who are sauntering over the grass is just as lively a 
figure to me as old Samuel Johnson rolling through the 
fog with the Scotch gentlemen at his heels on their way 
to Dr. Goldsmith's chambers in Brick Court ; or Harry 
Fielding, with inked ruffles and a wet towel round his 
head, dashing off articles at midnight for the Covent 
Garden Journal^ while the printer's boy is asleep in the 
passage." It was to these chambers, three pair up "a 
nasty black staircase," that Major Pendennis groped his 
way one foggy day. Set down by the conductor of a 
City omnibus at the Temple Gate, " he was directed by a 
civil personage with a badge and a white apron through 
some dark alleys and under various melancholy archways 
into courts each more dismal than the other, until finally 
he reached Lamb Court." Several of these "dismal 
courts" have disappeared, but "the civil personage with 
a badge and a white apron " may still be found to guide 
the stranger who so easily loses his way in the maze of 
the Temple courts. 

The original of George Warrington is said to have been 
George Stovin Venables, one of the greatest anonymous 
journalists of his day. Thackeray and Venables were 
together at Charterhouse, and on one occasion were the 



BUILDINGS IN THE MIDDLE TEMPLE 309 

principals in a "mill" on the Lower Green, when the 
latter broke Thackeray's nose, causing a permanent dis- 
figurement. The injury might have been remedied had 
the doctor been summoned in time, but, like a boy of 
pluck, Thackeray made light of the incident. In after 
life he used to point to a statuette of himself, which his 
mother had had made before her boy went to Charter- 
house, as proof of what he would have been but for 
Venables' fatal blow. But for this defect, Thackeray 
would have been the handsome man nature intended. It 
is quite possible that Venables, who was called to the 
Bar by the Inner Temple in 1836, occupied chambers in 
Lamb Building, since his first address in the Linv List 
is No. 2, Mitre Court Buildings, in the year 1840. In 
due course Venables took " silk." In spite of the fine 
character given to George Warrington, Thackeray and 
Venables do not appear ever to have been very intimate. 



CHAPTER XVII 



HISTORICAL SKETCH OF THE MIDDLE TEMPLE 




Plowden's Tomb. 



OWING to the lack of printed 
records relating to the Middle 
Temple, I have been unable to deal 
with the buildings and their inmates 
with the same detail as with those 
of the sister society. From the 
biographies, however, of its great 
men, some knowledge of the life of 
the Inn may be gathered. 

If the Inner had a Selden, the 
i Middle could boast of a Plowden. 
These two great men were singu- 
larly alike, both in the fulness of knowledge and strength 
of character. Edmund Plowden was admitted in 1538, 
and in 1553 was returned as M.P. for Wallingford. 
Staunch Catholic as he was, he with thirty-eight other 
members withdrew from the House in 1554 rather than 
support the extreme measure of Mary and her priests. 
For this proceeding information for contempt was filed 
against him, but more prudent counsels prevailing, no- 
thing was done. The oflfer by Elizabeth of the Woolsack 
if he would renounce his faith met with a dignified refusal. 
In 1 561 he was chosen Treasurer of his Inn. Standing 
apart from the Court party, he was frequently employed 
in cases to oppose the authorities, and he gained the 

310 



HISTORICAL SKETCH 311 

reputation of the greatest and most honest lawyer of his 
time. 

The Hall and Plowden Building's still keep his memory 
green in the Temple. 

John Popham, like many other great men, is said to 
have commenced his life in the Middle Temple by con- 
sorting with the wild young bloods of the town, and 
even to have played the part of a footpad — a pastime 
corresponding to the wrenching off of door-knockers 
and boxing the jarvies in later times. When Solicitor- 
General he was elected Speaker of the House of Commons, 
and his ready wit is shown by his reply when the Queen 
asked him what had passed in the Lower House. " If 
it please your Majesty," he answered, "seven weeks." 
"Let the Commons work more and speak less, or they 
shall hear of it," was her imperious Majesty's warning 
comment. 

As Attorney-General he took part in all the great 
criminal trials, in which he does not appear to have 
exceeded the licence of those days. 

Upon the rising of Essex, Popham, then Chief Justice, 
was sent with Lord Keeper Egerton to remonstrate, and, 
being admitted, they were surrounded by armed men, 
who, after hearing the Queen's message, wished to kill 
them. Essex, however, took them into a back chamber, 
and locked them in, telling them he was going to see 
the Lord Mayor, and would return in half an hour. 

Here they were detained from ten of the morning till 
four in the afternoon, when they were released by Sir 
Fernando Gorges, who saw that the game was up. 
Popham had refused to leave without his companions, 
declaring that, "as they came together, so would they 
go together or die together." Essex returned from his 
abortive expedition to the City by water, only to find 
his house surrounded by troops under Sir Robert Sidney. 
Upon the arrival of battering-rams from the Tower, 



312 THE INNER AND MIDDLE TEMPLE 

Essex, with his fellow-conspirator, the Earl of South- 
ampton, Shakespeare's friend and patron, submitted to 
" unconditional surrender." 

Popham sat at Essex's trial in the combined character 
of judge and witness. He also presided at the trial of 
the conspirators in the Gunpowder Plot, and of the 
Jesuit priest, Garnett, dying shortly after the execution 
of the latter. 

John Ford, the dramatist, was admitted a member 
of the Middle Temple in 1602. His mother was sister 
to Lord Chief Justice Popham. His best-known play 
is The Lover's Melancholy^ "acted at the Private House 
in the Blacke Friers, and publikely at the Globe by 
the King's maiesties servants." 

Fellow-members with Plowden were Edward Montague 
and Richard Rich. 

Edward Montague of the Middle was one of the 
Serjeants who gave the splendid feast at Ely House, 
described in the Survey of Henry VHI. In 1537 he was 
appointed Chief Justice of the King's Bench, and in 
1545 transferred as Chief Justice of the Common Pleas. 
He, together with Mr. Justice Bromley and the Attorney- 
and Solicitor-General, were obliged to attest the will of 
Edward VI. nominating Lady Jane Grey as his successor. 
For this Montague suffered imprisonment and lost his 
office. His grandson. Sir Henry Montague, became the 
first Earl of Manchester. 

The name of Richard Rich — Lord Rich — brings little 
credit to the Society of the Middle Temple. Upon his 
perjured evidence Bishop Fisher and Sir Thomas More 
were done to death. As Speaker of the House of 
Commons, he distinguished himself by his fulsome 
flatteries of Henry VIII. Through the influence of the 
Protector, Somerset, he attained the Woolsack, and when 
the fall of his patron became imminent he at once joined 
his opponents and attested Edward's will nominating 



HISTORICAL SKETCH 313 

Lady Jane Grfiy. By a timely profession of the Catholic 
faith he made his peace with Mary, and was actually 
nominated as one of the commissioners to try the Duke 
of Northumberland for the offence to which he himself 
had been a party. 

Truly a despicable character. As he had made his peace 
w'ith his Queen, so he attempted to do with his God, by 
founding and endowing schools and almshouses in his 
parish of Felstead. 

From the Black Books of Lincoln's Inn we learn 
that many gentlemen of the Middle Temple, in the year 
1568, went to dance the Post Revels with the gentlemen 
of their ancient ally, and that the sum paid to Mr. Hickes 
for their "victuals" amounted to _^3 6^-. ^d. 

Such was the increase of members at this period that 
the Government thought it necessary to restrict it for the 
future. In an Order of the Privy Council and Justices 
of the Queen's Bench and Common Pleas, promulgated 
in Easter Term, 1574, and dealing with the government 
of the Inns of Court, it was ordered that no more 
chambers should be built, "saving that in the Middle 
Temple they male converte theire olde Halle into chambres 
not exceedinge the nombre of tenne chambres." The 
new Hall, it will be remembered, was commenced in 
1562, and was now nearing completion. The first 
Serjeants' feast to be held in the new Hall was apparently 
that held in Michaelmas Term, 1587, of which Dugdale 
gives a full description, with the speeches by Sir Nicholas 
Bacon, Sir James Dyer, and Sir Christopher Wray. 

histead of the customary ring from each serjeant, 
Elizabeth received one "for them all in common," 
weighing £6 \t,s. 4^/. 

In 1 58 1 the gentlemen of the Middle Temple were 
entertained at a banquet in Lincoln's Lin on the Eve of 
the Purification, which was apparently one of the days 
set apart for the revels. 



314 THE INNER AND MIDDLE TEMPLE 

It is interesting to note the number of members at this 
period. From a return of 1586, it appears that the 
Middle Temple possessed 138 chambers, occupied by 200 
members. The Inner Temple and Lincoln's Inn had then 
each the same number, whereas Gray's Inn with 356 
easily led the way as the most popular and fashionable 
society. The total number of members belonging to the 
four Inns and Inns of Chancery amounted to 1,703. 

Whilst the Benchers and members were sitting at 
dinner on February 9th, 1597, John Davies, a member 
of the Inn, entered the Hall with his hat on, and, going 
up to the barristers' table, struck one Richard Martin so 
violently with a cudgel as to break it in pieces on his 
head. For this outrage he was expelled the House, 
but upon his humble submission four years later he was 
restored, became Attorney-General for Ireland, and would 
have been Chief Justice of the King's Bench in West- 
minster Hall but for his death. 

Sir John was the author of Nosce te ipsjivi, a fine poem 
on the immortality of the soul. Martin became a learned 
law3'er, Recorder of London, member of Parliament, 
and a friend of Selden. His monument is now in the 
Triforium in the Round, To him Ben Jonson dedicated 
his play The Poetaster. 

In the same year, on November 29th, a " compotacion " 
between the gentlemen of the Inn and those of Lincoln's 
Inn " was ordered to be kept as usual " in the Hall of the 
latter society. This drinking bout appears to have been 
an annual aflFair, the earliest mention in the Black Books 
occurring in 1441. 

Other notable members of the Middle Temple in the 
sixteenth century were Sir Robert Broke, who in 1554 
was Speaker of the House of Commons which sanctioned 
the marriage of Philip and Mary. He then became Chief 
Justice of the Common Pleas, and presided at the trial of 
Lord Stourton for the murder of the Hartgills, being 




SIU WAI.IKU UAI.l;ll.lI 



HISTORICAL SKETCH 315 

obliged to threaten the prisoner with the terrible punish- 
ment of peine et forte if he did not plead. 

Broke is best known as the author of La Graiinde 
Abridgement, published in 1568, which was based on 
a similar work by Fitzherbert. He was a zealous 
Catholic. 

The others were Serjeant William Fleetwood, who may 
be described as the Progressive M.P. for London, the 
author of a scheme for housing the poor and maintaining 
open spaces ; Sir Francis Moore, politician and member 
of Parliament in the reigns of Elizabeth and James, 
serjeant-at-law, and reporter ; Sir James Dyer, the famous 
Chief Justice of the Queen's Bench ; and last, but not 
least, Sir Francis Drake, one of the founders of our 
colonial empire. He is claimed by both societies. 

Upon January 28th, 1581, Drake was specially admitted 
a Fellow of the Liner. He had but recently returned 
from his voyage round the world, and the Golden Hind 
was then lying in the Thames, from the timbers of which 
an oak table in the Middle Temple Hall is said to have 
been made. On board this vessel he was knighted by 
Elizabeth a few months later. Descended from John 
Drake, of Otterton, Devon, and Agnes Kelloway, through 
the latter family he was connected with our House, for 
the Kelloways had been Fellows and Benchers of the Lin 
for generations. And the Drakes of Ashe, in Devon- 
shire, who were also members, were probably related. 
Sir Francis was with Raleigh in 1586 entertained to 
banquets in the Halls of both societies. In the corridor 
leading to the Parliament Chamber hangs his portrait, 
with a copy of the order of the Bench for this enter- 
tainment. 

Li 1597, sad to relate, one Blomer, described as a 
"counsellor del Middell Temple," was by order of the 
Star Chamber committed to the Fleet for suborning 
witnesses. He was reported by the Lord Keeper to be 



3i6 THE INNER AND MIDDLE TEMPLE 

a man of no learning and of no honesty, but having great 
volubility of speech, great audacity, and " impudencye. " 
He is only mentioned here to throw into greater relief his 
fellow-members. But perhaps the Star Chamber was 
mistaken. Its reputation for justice does not stand very 
high. 

The Templars were too intimately connected with the 
Court to escape the prevailing extravagance in dress. 
Against the Middle Templars then sumptuary statutes 
were passed under Philip and Mary, forbidding any 
member to "thenceforth wear any great bryches in their 
hose made after Dutch, Spanish, or Almon fashion, or 
lawnde upon their capps, or cut doublets, upon pain of 
2S. ^d. for first default, and for second expulsion from the 
House." 

By Elizabeth white in doublets or hose, and velvet 
facings on gowns, were forbidden, and all students were 
ordered to walk abroad in sad-coloured gowns ! 

From 1604 to 161 1 Sir Edward Phelips, of the Middle 
Temple, was Speaker of the House of Commons, and 
rivalled the King in the ponderous quality and inordinate 
length of his orations. He assisted in the prosecution of 
Sir Walter Raleigh, and opened for the Crown in the 
Gunpowder Plot trial. He became Master of the Rolls, 
and built the celebrated Montacute House in Somerset. 
He it was who took a leading part in the masque given 
at Whitehall by the Middle Temple and Lincoln's Inn, 
upon the marriage of Princess Elizabeth with the Count 
Palatine of the Rhine. 

This masque was celebrated on February 15th, 161 2. 
It was composed by George Chapman, and the properties 
prepared under the direction of Inigo Jones. The 
masquers went in procession from the Rolls House in 
Chancery Lane to Whitehall. 

Henry Montague, first Earl of Manchester, was, like 
his grandfather, the Chief Justice, a member of the 



HISTORICAL SKETCH 317 

Middle Temple. Like Scarlett, two centuries later, he 
was defendant in a suit for words spoken by him as 
counsel, when it was held that such words, when pertinent 
to the issue, were privileg-ed. 

He succeeded Coke as Chief Justice of the King-'s 
Bench in 1616, and in 1618 he had the painful duty of 
pronouncing execution upon Sir Walter Raleigh, in an 
affecting address. " Fear not death too much," he said, 
"nor fear not death too little: not too much, lest you 
fail in your hopes ; not too little, lest you die pre- 
sumptuously." 

Notwithstanding his reputation for piety, he did not 
scruple to offer p/^TO,ooo for the lucrative post of Lord 
Treasurer. He had, however, to pay Buckingham double 
that sum. He was a staunch supporter of Charles I., 
but died before the troubles. 

In 1636 a Serjeants' feast took place in the Middle 
Temple Hall. Only two general calls were held during 
the reign of Charles. 

The Parliament Chamber of the Middle Temple was 
used in the reign of James L by the House of Commons 
for the sittings of committees. 

Mr. Bagshawe, Lent Reader in 1639, who was thought 
to touch too much on politics, was commanded by the 
King not to proceed with his reading. He seems to have 
been a person of considerable position, for he shortly 
after left town with a retinue of forty to fifty horse. A 
member for Southwark in the Long Parliament, he joined 
the King at Oxford. Being subsequently captured, he 
was imprisoned and expelled the House. 

With the great ship-money case the Middle Temple 
was connected in the persons of John Bramston and 
Robert Berkeley. Bramston, chamber-fellow of Edward 
Hyde, after a brilliant career at the Bar, was appointed 
Chief Justice of the King's Bench in 1635. He supported 
the opinion in favour of the King, but ruled against him 



3i8 THE INNER AND MIDDLE TEMPLE 

on the technical point that by the record it did not 
appear to whom the money assessed was due. Although 
impeached, together with Berkeley and four other judges, 
by the Long Parliament and held to bail for ^10,000, he 
escaped punishment, since he appears to have signed the 
opinion only for the sake of uniformity. Dismissed by 
the King for refusing to join him at York, he also rejected 
all appointments offered by Parliament. 

Berkeley was not so fortunate. He was fined ;^io,ooo 
and for ever disabled from holding office. In his case his 
opinion in favour of the King was the result of convic- 
tion. His house at Spetchley was seized and occupied 
by Cromwell, and subsequently burned to the ground by 
his old enemies, the Presbyterians. Berkeley had suc- 
ceeded Sir James Whitelocke, father of the better-known 
Bulstrode Whitelocke, both members of the Middle 
Temple. 

It was Sir James who, in the first years of Charles I., 
adjourned the Court to Reading on account of the great 
plague which was then raging. Arriving early in the 
morning at Hyde Park Corner, " he and his retinue dined 
on the ground with such meat and drink as they had 
brought in the coach with them, and afterwards he drove 
fast through the streets, which were empty of people and 
overgrown with grass, to Westminster Hall, where the 
officers were ready, and the judge and his compan}' went 
straight to the King's Bench, adjourned the court, re- 
turned to his coach, and drove away presently out of 
town." He was one of the judges who refused to bail 
the five members. But though a conscientious supporter 
of the King's prerogative, he was a strenuous advocate 
of the rights of the people. 

Nicholas Hyde, Treasurer of the Middle in 1625, was 
two years later appointed Chief Justice of the King's 
Bench. He also was one of the judges who refused to 
bail the Five Knights who declined to pay the forced 



HISTORICAL SKETCH 319 

loan of 1627. He died of gaol fever caught on circuit in 
1631. He was uncle to Edward, the famous historian. 
When the Chief Justice rode the Norfolk Circuit in the 
summer of 1628 he took his nephew wnth him, partly 
on account of the small-pox, which was then raging- 
furiously in town. Young Hyde, however, fell sick 
at Cambridge, and was moved out of Trinity College, 
where the judges were lodged, to the Sun Inn. Whether 
the disease was small-pox is not clear, but it "had so far 
prevailed over him that for some hours both his friends 
and physician consulted of nothing but of the place and 
manner of his burial." 

Talbot Pepys and Richard, his nephew, were both 
Treasurers of the Middle Temple. The latter became 
Chief Justice of the Upper Bench in Ireland. Their family 
is best known as the stock from which Samuel Pepys, the 
diarist and Secretary to the Admiralty in the reigns of 
the last two Stuarts, was descended. 

Under the Commonwealth the lawyers were at first 
very unpopular, so many having sided with the King. 
All, whether judges or students, who had been against 
the Parliament were ordered to be removed from their 
chambers. Shortly after this order, says Whitelocke, 
"there was a great peek against the lawyers, inasmuch 
as it was again said, as it had been formerly, ' that it was 
not fit for lawyers, who were members of Parliament, to 
plead or practise as lawyers during the time that they sit 
as members of Parliament.'" 

A highly beneficial innovation, however, was carried 
out, viz. the substitution of English for Latin in pleadings 
and in all proceedings in Court. The business Latin of 
the Middle Ages had degenerated into bad Latin and 
worse French, together with a mixture of English. But 
with the Restoration the old practice was resumed. 

Bulstrode Whitelocke has already been referred to as 
representing with Edward Hyde the Middle Temple in 



320 THE INNER AND MIDDLE TEMPLE 

the famous masque g-iven by the four Inns at Whitehall. 
Whitelocke was born at the house of his uncle, Sir 
Georg-e Croke, in Fleet Street, and was called to the 
Bar in 1626. It is interesting to learn that at the 
commencement of his legal career Whitelocke was 
elected chairman of the Quarter Sessions at Oxford in 
1635, although, as he says, he was " in coloured clothes, 
a sword by his side, and a falling band, which was 
unusual for lawyers in those days." 

Returned for Marlow, he made a spirited defence of 
his father for his share in refusing to bail the Five 
Knights, and succeeded in vindicating his memory. 
Chairman of the committee of management for the 
impeachment of Strafford, he was complimented by the 
Earl for having used him like a gentleman. Whitelocke 
took a very active part in public, and always on the side 
of peace. In 1645 he was appointed governor of Henley- 
on-Thames and the fort of Phillis Court, with a garrison 
of 300 foot and a troop of horse. Upon the conclusion 
of hostilities he resumed his practice at the Bar, which 
became very large. 

In 1648 he became one of the Commissioners of the 
Great Seal. Owing to the disturbances at Westminster, 
these commissioners transacted their judicial business in 
the Middle Temple Hall. Until his advice to Cromwell 
to restore the crown to Charles II., with strict limitations, 
Whitelocke had been a prime favourite with the Protector, 
who did little of importance without his advice. It was 
into Whitelocke's ear that Cromwell dropped the ever- 
memorable question, "What if a man should take upon 
him to be King ? " He was accordingly sent as 
ambassador to Sweden, and his Journal, published a 
century after his death, gives an interesting account of 
the condition of the country and the customs of the 
period. He was accompanied by his cousin, Charles 
Croke, a member of the Inner, who held a commission 



HISTORICAL SKETCH 321 

in his brother Unton Croke's troop of horse, and who was 
the author of YoutJi's Vanities^ pubHshed in 1667, 

Upon his return he found he had been again named one 
of the Commissioners of the Great Seal. So popular, 
however, did Whitelocke become, not only in the House, 
but in the country, that Cromwell's jealous temperament 
found it necessary to find a pretext for his dismissal. In 
the rapidly changing politics till the accession of Charles, 
Whitelocke played an equally shifty part, changing 
sides whenever his party was in danger. 

He owed his preservation at the Restoration partly to 
his own moderation when in positions of power, and 
partly to his long friendship with Edward Hyde. White- 
locke's Memorials of English Affairs is indispensable for 
the study of this eventful period. 

A contemporary of Whitelocke at the Middle Temple 
was Henry Ireton, the celebrated Cromwellian general, 
of whom Anthony Wood said that "he learned some 
grounds of the common law at the Middle Temple, and 
became a man of working and laborious brain." Another 
well-known Middle Templar of this period was Sir Simonds 
d'Ewes, who in his autobiography gives an account of 
the condition of education at the Inns of Court and 
Chancery in the reign of Charles I. 

With the trial of Colonel Lilburne in October, 1649, the 
Middle Temple is connected in the person of Philip Jermyn, 
a Justice of the King's Bench, and one of the com- 
missioners. He took a prominent and violent part against 
the prisoner. The prosecution was conducted by Edmund 
Prideaux, Attorney-General, a member of a family which 
for generations was connected with distinction with the 
Inner Temple. He was M.P. for Lyme Regis and 
Postmaster-General under the Commonwealth. 

On January 15th, 1641, Evelyn was present at the 
trial of Strafford in Westminster Hall, and on May 12th 
"beheld on Tower Hill the fatal stroke which severed the 

V 



322 THE INNER AND MIDDLE TEMPLE 

wisest head in England from the shoulders of the Earl of 
Strafford." In July he went to Leagure, in Holland, 
where he joined the army as a volunteer in Colonel Goring's 
regiment. His military career, however, was very brief, 
for, as he naively puts it, the " service was too hot for a 
young drinker as I then was." On his way home he met 
at Amsterdam the exiled Lord Keeper, John Finch. 
Landing at Arundel Stairs, he retired to his lodgings in 
the Temple, and the following Christmas was appointed 
one of the comptrollers of the Middle Temple Revels. 

In 1642 we hear of him again in the Temple, " studying 
a little, but dancing and fooling more." 

On the morning of October 17th, 1660 — the day of the 
execution of the regicides at Charing Cross — Evelyn 
relates how on his way to the Temple he was disgusted 
to "meet their quarters, mangled and cut and reeking, 
as they were brought from the gallows in baskets on the 
hurdle." 

Although present at the Christmas Revels as late as 
1668, Evelyn was losing his taste for such pastimes, for 
he describes them as "an old but riotous costome which 
has no relation to virtue or polity." 

An intimate friend of Evelyn was the founder of the 
Ashmolean Museum at Oxford. He describes being 
present at a great feast given by Ashmole at Lambeth, 
other guests being Lady Clarendon, the Bishop of 
St. Asaph, and Dr. Tenison. 

Ashmole was originally a solicitor of Clement's Inn, 
with an "indifferent good practice." In the Civil War 
he took the side of the Royalists, was at Oxford in 1645, 
and subsequently Commissioner of Excise at Worcester 
and captain of horse and ordnance. 

Admitted to the Middle Temple in 1657, his chambers 
in Middle Temple Lane, between Pump Court and Elm 
Court, were broken into by the soldiers on pretence of 
searching for Charles II. In 1660 he was called to the 



HISTORICAL SKETCH 323 

Bar, and in 1668 married as his third wife, in Lincohi's 
Inn Chapel, EUzabeth, daug-hter of Sir William Dugdale, 
the celebrated antiquary. 

The bulk of his collection of antiquities came from 
John Tradescant, the botanist and antiquary, who by 
deed of gift dated December 15th, 1659, presented 
Ashmole with his house and physic garden in South 
Lambeth, together with his collection. His own collection 
of medals and coins, which were at his chambers in the 
Temple, suffered in the great fire of 1678, but Evelyn, 
writing ten years later, was unable to say whether any 
had escaped. 

Ashmole presented his collection to the University in 
1682, when it was removed to Oxford in twelve wagons. 

Evelyn is also a link with another famous collection, 
the original of the British Museum. He relates how, 
on December i6th, 1686, he carried his patroness, the 
Countess of Sunderland, to see the rarities of one Mr. 
Charleton in the Middle Temple. This collection, which 
he describes as the best he had ever seen in all his travels 
abroad, was afterwards purchased by Sir Hans Sloane, 
and, together with additions made by the latter, formed 
the nucleus of the British Museum, being offered to the 
nation at a certain price under Sir Hans' will, the Govern- 
ment in 1754 raising the sum of ^100,000 by lottery for 
its purchase, together with the Cottonian Library, then 
housed at Montague House. To this George HI. added 
his "King's Library," which was eventually graciously 
presented to the nation by George IV., after he had 
secretly sold it to the Government and received his price. 

To Evelyn may be ascribed the credit of discovering 
Grinling Gibbons. Chancing to see him at work, he 
w^as so struck with his productions that he introduced 
him to Charles H. and to Sir Christopher Wren, by whom 
he was largely employed. 

Evelyn's was not an altogether estimable character. 



324 THE INNER AND MIDDLE TEMPLE 

Like most diarists, his nature was somewhat small and 
petty. He was, moreover, inclined to sycophancy. 
When Jeffreys was at the height of his power he 
assiduously cultivated his acquaintance, and is careful 
to relate how on June 14th, 1688, he actually dined with 
the great Chancellor. It is only fair, however, to mention 
that Jeffreys when Chief Justice had dined with Evelyn. 

On May 2nd, 1672, Evelyn's son, John, was specially 
admitted a student of the Middle Temple, his father's 
intention being that he should make a serious business of 
the law, an intention, however, which does not appear to 
have been fulfilled. 

In 1668 the City once more claimed jurisdiction over 
the Temple. The garrulous Pepys tells us how when 
the Lord Mayor, Sir William Peake, was invited by 
Christopher Goodfellowe to his Reader's feast in the 
Inner Temple Hall, he came "endeavouring to carry his 
sword up. The students pulled it down and forced him 
to go and stay all day in a private Councillor's chambers 
until the Reader himself could get the young gentlemen 
to dinner, and then the Lord Mayor did retreat out of the 
Temple by stealth with his sword up." 

The City then complained to the King in Council 
whether the Temple was within the City or no, but the 
King, unwilling to lose the favour of either party, gave 
no decision, and the only result of the suit was the 
direction to the Chamberlain to pay the Town Clerk ^23 
14^. 6^., disbursed by him for counsel. 

But although the lawyers so far had the best of it, the 
dispute was to cost them dear shortly afterwards. In 
1678 a fire broke out in the chambers of one Thornbury, 
in Pump Court, and was far more disastrous even than 
the Great Fire. Breaking out at midnight, it continued 
until noon next day, destroying the whole of Pump Court, 
Elm Court, Vine Court, the greater part of Hare Court 
and Brick Court across the lane, the Cloisters, and part 








X 






T H 



JOHN OGILBY's TLAN OF THE TliMl'Lli, 1677 



HISTORICAL SKETCH 325 

of the Inner Temple Hall. The Thames was frozen and 
the water supply stopped by the frost, so that the engines 
had to be fed with beer from the Temple cellars. This 
liquid was soon exhausted, and the church and remaining 
buildings to the east were only saved by blowing up the 
intervening houses with gunpowder. 

During the fire Sir William Turner, Lord Mayor, 
arrived with assistance, but could not lose so good an 
opportunity of assisting the City's claim by endeavouring 
to have his sword borne up before him. Distracted as 
the lawyers were, they would have none of it, and beating 
it down, the Lord Mayor departed in wrath, and wreaked 
his vengeance by turning back a fire engine on its way 
from the City, and then soothed his outraged dignity by 
getting right royally drunk at a neighbouring tavern. 

The original Cloisters which were then burnt were on a 
level with St. Anne's Chapel, with which a door at the 
west end communicated. At the south end they passed 
through the Chapel of St. Thomas to the Hall door, thus 
enabling the Templars to pass from the refectory into 
the church under cover. By the lawyers they had been 
used as a meeting-place for the students to argue "cases." 
After the fire the Middle Temple, thinking to gain more 
chambers, wished to rebuild from the ground, but were 
strongly opposed by Heneage Finch, Attorney-General, 
of the Inner Temple, who "reproved the Middle Templars 
very bitterly and eloquently upon the subject of students 
walking there and putting 'cases,' which, he said, was 
done in his time, mean and low as the buildings were 
then." 

The Cloisters were in consequence rebuilt as we now 
see them, by Sir Christopher Wren, in the Treasurership 
of William Whitelocke, eldest son of Hulstrode, who 
also superintended the construction of the fountain in 
1 68 1. William entertained the Prince of Orange on his 
march to London and was knighted by him on April loth. 



326 THE INNER AND MIDDLE TEMPLE 

1689. Vine Court, at the south end of the Cloisters, now 
finally disappeared. 

Chaloner Chute, chosen Treasurer of the Middle Temple 
in 1655, enjoyed great reputation at the Bar. He defended 
Sir Edward Herbert, Archbishop Laud, and the eleven 
members charged by Fairfax as delinquents. Retained 
for the defence of the Bishops in 1641, when impeached 
for making canons, only he and Serjeant Jermyn appeared 
at the trial. Asked by the Lords whether he would 
plead for them, he answered, "Yea, so long as I have 
a tongue to plead with." 

He is described by Whitelocke as "an excellent orator 
and man of great parts and generosity, whom many 
doubted that he would not join with the Protector's party, 
but he did heartily." In fact, so heartily did he join 
that he was elected Speaker of Richard's Parliament, 
which met on January 27th, 1659. On March 9th he 
obtained leave of absence on the ground of ill-health, 
dying on April 15th following. 

According to his nephew, Roger North, Chute was 
a man of great wit and stately carriage. He was 
singularly independent in his profession. If he had a 
fancy, says North, not to have the fatigue of business, 
he would say to his clerk, "Tell the people I will not 
practise this term." And when he returned to his practice 
he was as busy as ever. 

Edward Hyde, Earl of Clarendon, will be remembered 
rather as a politician and historian than as a lawyer, 
although even at the Bar he made a respectable figure, 
due, no doubt, to a large extent to his family influence. 
An adherent of Charles I., he was the faithful minister 
of his exiled son, receiving from him the Great Seal in 
1654. 

At the Restoration he became practically Prime Minister, 
and, in spite of the jealousy of the Queen-Dowager, 
Henrietta, continued for seven years the ruling power. 



HISTORICAL SKETCH 327 

The first attempt to bring- about his downfall was made 
upon the discovery of the secret connection between his 
daughter Anne and the Duke of York, which failed upon 
the publication of the marriage, and resulted in his 
further advancement. A second attempt, in 1663, by 
charging him with high treason, met with no better 
success. But Charles gradually wearied of Clarendon's 
constant reproaches and ill-timed lectures, and his 
enemies were not slow to take advantage of the situa- 
tion, and in 1667 he was commanded to surrender the 
Great Seal. Impeachment and banishment followed, and 
even in France refuge was at first refused, and when 
passing through the old cathedral town of Evreux he 
was assaulted and wounded by a party of English sailors, 
though what the latter were doing so far from the coast 
does not appear. He died at Rouen in 1674. 

Clarendon's cousin, Robert Hyde, was also a member 
of the Middle Temple, and through the influence of his 
illustrious kinsman he became a Justice of the Common 
Pleas. He sat as one of the commissioners of the 
regicides, and in the following year condemned a mother 
and her two sons to be hanged for the murder of 
William Harrison, although the body had not been 
found. Some years after the execution Harrison returned 
from the plantations to which he had been carried. 

George Bradbury, a member of the Middle Temple 
and Cursitor Baron of the Exchequer under William, 
will be best remembered in connection with Lady Ivy's 
case before Jeffreys. Complimented by the Chancellor 
for the ingenuity of a point he had made, he repeated 
it later in the case. "Lord, sir," exclaimed Jeffreys, 
"you must be cackling too; we told you your objection 
was very ingenious, but that must not make you trouble- 
some ; you cannot lay an egg but you must be cackling 
over it." 

William Montague, called to the Bar by the .Middle 



328 THE INNER AND MIDDLE TEMPLE 

Temple in 1641, was appointed Lord Chief Baron of the 
Exchequer in 1676, and accompanied Jeffreys on the 
Bloody Assizes. There is no evidence that he took any 
personal share in the brutalities of his colleague. He 
was removed by James for refusing to support the 
abolition of the Test Act. If he had endeavoured to 
restrain even in the smallest degree the outrageous 
conduct of Jeffrey's on the bench, he would be more 
entitled to our respect. 

In dismissing Montague James was only continuing 
the policy adopted by Charles II. in the middle of his 
reign, of endeavouring to destroy the independence of 
the Bench. Of the judges appointed by James, they 
were, as Jeffreys truly once said to Clarendon, "mostly 
rogues." 

Francis North, Lord Guilford, was admitted a member 
of the Middle Temple in 1655, and occupied the moiety 
of a petit chamber, purchased by his father, Lord North. 
His uncle, Chaloner Chute, Speaker of the House of 
Commons under Protector Richard, was then Treasurer 
of the Inn, and swept the admission fee into the student's 
hat, saying, "Let this be a beginning of your getting 
money here." 

He commenced his practice in a chamber in Elm Court, 
and it was soon a lucrative one. His first appearance to 
attract public notice was in the House of Lords, on a writ 
of error by the five members who had been convicted of a 
breach of the peace in holding down Speaker Finch on 
that memorable occasion when Sir John Eliot moved his 
resolution. 

Upon his appointment as Reader, the expense of his 
Reader's feast was so extravagant — costing him at 
least ;^i, 000— that this practice of public reading was 
abolished. Passing through the usual grades of Solicitor- 
and Attorney-General, he fulfilled the duties of Chief 
Justice of the Common Pleas with marked ability and 



HISTORICAL SKETCH 329 

discretion. His conduct, however, at the trial of Stephen 
Colledg"e, when he refused to restore the papers provided 
for the prisoner's defence, cannot be defended. 

In 1682 he received the Great Seal from Charles with the 
words, " Here, take it, my lord; you will find it heavy " — 
a prophecy which he afterwards acknowledged by saying 
that since he had held it he had not enjoyed one easy or 
contented minute. 

In spite of Jeffreys' assiduous endeavours to supplant 
him. North retained the confidence of both Charles and 
James. Fortunately perhaps for him, he died before the 
latter had been on the throne a year, and before he had 
commenced his more extreme unconstitutional measures. 

Without any special genius or talent, North may be 
favourably contrasted with the bulk of his contemporaries 
with respect to his character. If, as his biographer, 
Roscoe, says, he "never rose above the prejudices and 
feelings of the age, he did not, like many of his contem- 
poraries, sink without shame into those corrupt practices 
with which the higher ranks of society were infected." 
The panegyrics of his brother Roger may be equally dis- 
missed with the vituperations of Lord Campbell, by whom 
he is styled "one of the most odious men who ever held 
the Great Seal." 

Upon his marriage he took "the great brick house near 
Serjeants' Inn, in Chancery Lane, which was formerly 
Lord Chief Justice Hyde's." 

Roger North is known rather as a biographer and 
historian than as a lawyer. But he was no mean lawyer, 
and as he tells us himself, his income at the Bar was over 
^4,000 a year. Called in 1675, the year his brother 
Francis became Chief Justice of the Common Pleas, he 
soon acquired a large practice, and was elected Treasurer 
of the Inn in 1683. It is pleasing to find Roger North 
singled out. Of him the second Earl of Clarendon wrote 
on January i8th, 1689: "I was at the Temple with 



330 THE INNER AND MIDDLE TEMPLE 

Mr. Rog^er North and Sir Charles Porter, who are the 
only two honest lawyers I have met with." 

With the accession of James and the rise to power 
of Jeffreys, North's chances of further legal promotion 
vanished. He retired to the country, where he combined 
the life of a country squire and a man of letters. His 
Lives of the Norths is a classic, not only for its authority 
upon the period, but for its intrinsic charm. His adula- 
tion of his brother must, of course, be taken cum grano. 
He shared his brother's chambers in Elm Court. 

Of the elder North, Evelyn had the highest opinion. 
Upon his accession to the Woolsack, the diarist went to 
congratulate him, and under date January 23rd, 1683, he 
writes of the object of his admiration: "He is a most 
knowing, learned, and ingenious person, and besides 
having an excellent person, is of an ingenuous and sweete 
disposition, very skillful in music, painting, the new 
philosophy, and political studies." 

A member of the Middle Temple who took a prominent 
part in the Civil Wars was Nicholas Lechmere, of Hanley 
Castle, Worcestershire. He was present at the surrender 
of Worcester in 1646, and in 1648 he became a member of 
the Long Parliament. 

When Charles II. seized Worcester in 165 1, Hanley 
Castle was occupied by Scotch troopers, and in the battle 
that followed Lechmere had his revenge. A staunch 
supporter of Cromwell and his son, Lechmere took a 
leading part in all public affairs, but he managed never- 
theless to make his peace with Charles II., and upon the 
accession of William was made a Baron of the Exchequer, 
where he sat for eleven years. 

John Somers, who gained his first step in the legal 
world at the trial of the Seven Bishops, was the son of an 
attorney practising at Worcester, who had commanded a 
troop of Cromwell's horse up to the battle of Worcester. 
Six months before the battle young Somers was born, and 



HISTORICAL SKETCH 331 

was carried by his mother for safety to the house of the 
White Ladies, an ancient nunnery outside the city, and 
here Charles II. lay after the battle just before his escape. 

Somers was called to the Bar by the Middle Temple in 
1669, and appears to have soon acquired a considerable 
practice. As chairman of the committee to which the 
Declaration of Rights was referred, it is said that this 
charter of our country's liberties owes much of its value 
to him. 

Somers rose rapidly to office. As Attorney-General he 
conducted the prosecution of Lord Mohun for the murder 
of Mountford, the actor, by whom the prologue of Shad- 
well's play The Squire of Alsatia was spoken. A Captain 
Hill was paying his addresses to Mrs. Bracegirdle, the 
celebrated actress, and he believed Mountford enjoyed her 
favours. Accordingly he and Mohun, after failing to 
carry off Mrs. Bracegirdle in a coach from Drury Lane, 
waited in Norfolk Street by the hitter's lodgings, and 
upon Mountford's appearance Hill ran him through the 
body. Mohun was acquitted, but fell in a duel with the 
Duke of Hamilton shortly afterwards, killing the Duke 
with his last effort. 

In 1693 Somers received the Great Seal, and four years 
later became Lord Chancellor and Baron Somers of 
Evesham. 

In spite of his high reputation and judicial impartiality 
he was driven from office by Tory faction, and subse- 
quently impeached for that "by advising His Majesty 
in the year 1698 to the Treaty of Partition of the Spanish 
Monarchy, whereby large territories were to be delivered 
up to France." This impeachment fell through owing to 
disagreement between the two Houses. 

Personally obnoxious to Anne, Somers was, however, 
eventually admitted into the Ministry of 1708 as Lord 
President of the Council, which office he held for two 
years. Although dismissed with the rest of the Whigs, 



332 THE LNNER AND MIDDLE TEMPLE 

he seems to have gained the confidence of Anne, who 
declared she could always trust Somers, for he had never 
deceived her. 

His learning was only equalled by his eloquence, and 
his judgment by his honesty, and he was withal modest 
and singularly sweet-tempered. He was the patron of 
Sir Isaac Newton, Locke, Addison, and Boyle. Rymer's 
Foedera and The History of the Exchequer, by Madox, 
were published under his patronage. It is interesting 
also to recall that Addison, in recognition of the part 
he played in the trial of the Seven Bishops, dedicated 
to him the Spectator. 

Bartholomew Shower has already been mentioned in 
connection with the trial of the Seven Bishops. He was 
an adherent of the Court party, and made an unseemly 
attack on Lord William Russell's dying vindication. 
After the Revolution he became a rancorous opponent 
of William. He is described by Garth as — 

" Vasellius, one reputed long' 
For strength of lungs and pliancy of tong'ue. " 

He died in Middle Temple Lane. 

A contemporary and fellow-student of Shower, but of 
very different calibre, was Thomas Vernon, Treasurer 
of the Inn in 1717. He practised chiefly in the Chancery 
Courts, and his Reports of Cases Decided in Chancery ^ 
1681-1^18, are still recognised as authoritative. He was 
considered the ablest man at the Bar. In politics he 
was a Whig, and sat in the House of Commons as 
member for the county of Worcester, where he had 
an estate. 

Richard Wallop, of the Middle Temple, was retained 
in numerous State trials during the reigns of the last 
two Stuarts against the Government, but he will be 
chiefly remembered for the courageous manner in which 
he stood up to Jeffreys. 



HISTORICAL SKETCH 333 

Perhaps one of the most famous lawyers of the Middle 
Temple was John Maynard, who, admitted in 1619, was 
returned as M.P. for Chippenham in 1625 whilst still a 
student. 

As a young- man he was an enthusiastic patriot, but 
gradually crystallised into the mere lawyer. He was 
engaged in the impeachment of Strafford and the pro- 
secution of Laud, and was constantly consulted by 
Cromwell. His knowledge of law was undoubtedly 
profound. Once when arguing before Jeffreys the judge 
coarsely told him "he had grown so old as to forget 
his law." 

" Tis true. Sir George," he retorted, "I have for- 
gotten more law than ever you knew." 

Created a serjeant by Cromwell, he followed in his 
funeral procession a few months later. At the Restora- 
tion he so conducted himself that he was confirmed in 
this degree, and rode in the coronation procession of 
Charles. Although a member of Parliament throughout 
the reigns of Charles and James, he was not very active 
until the extreme encroachments by the latter monarch 
commenced. Upon the arrival of William, Maynard 
headed the lawyers who crowded to pay their court to 
the new king. To the Prince's observation that "he 
had outlived all the men of law of his time," he wittily 
replied he "had like to have outlived the law itself if 
His Highness had not come over." Although in his 
eighty-eighth year. Sir John Maynard was appointed 
First Commissioner of the Great Seal. He died the 
following year, maintaining his physical and mental 
vigour to the end. 

Quite a group of dramatists became members of the 
Middle during the latter part of the seventeenth century. 
Thomas Southorne, admitted in 1678, brought with him 
The Uival BrotJier, with which he sought to gain the 
favour of the Duke of York. He obtained a commission 



m 



334 THE INNER AND MIDDLE TEMPEE 

in Princess Anne's Regiment (8th Foot), and had gained 
his company when the Revolution destroyed his prospects 
at Court. Driven back to the drama, he produced The 
Fatal Marriage and The Oroonko ; or. The Royal Slave, 
the most successful play of the day, which held the 
boards at Drury Lane for nearly three years. Southorne 
was a prot^g^ of Dryden. 

The son of Serjeant Rowe, a member of the Middle 
Temple, Nicholas was called by his father's Inn about 
the year 1688, and was favourably noticed by Sir George 
Treby, then Lord Chief Justice. Becoming independent 
by the death of his father, he devoted himself to letters, 
especially to the drama, without, however, forsaking his 
residence in the Temple. His tragedy The Amhitioiis 
Stepnwther was played at Lincoln's Inn Fields, and, 
according to Cibber, young Rowe fell in love with Mrs. 
Bracegirdle, who had contributed to its success. After 
a highly successful career as a dramatist, Rowe in 1715 
was appointed Poet Laureate. 

Thomas Shadwell, dramatist, succeeded Dryden as • 
Poet Laureate at the Revolution. He was the son of 
John Shadwell, also a member of the Middle Temple, 
who had lost heavily in the Civil War. 

Shadwell's play The Squire of Alsatia was published 
in 1688. 

William Congreve, the dramatist, admitted a member 
of the Middle Temple in 1691, was schoolfellow of Swift 
at Kilkenny, and with him at college, where a more 
enduring friendship was cemented. 

Congreve soon deserted the study of law for the pursuit 
of literature, but maintained his connection with the 
Temple, as we have seen. 

In 1744 the Masters of the Bench resolved not to allow 
the use of the Hall for any public entertainments uncon- 
nected with the profession of the law, following apparently 
the example of the Inner Temple. From this date, there- 



HISTORICAL SKETCH 335 

fore, until modern times we hear no more of stag^e plays 
being acted in the Hall, which accounts to some extent 
for the falling off of dramatic authorship among-st the 
members of the Inn. 

Of the more strictly professional entertainments, Evelyn 
relates how on August 3rd, 1668, he was invited by Mr. 
Bramston, son of the judge, his old fellow-traveller and 
then Reader at the Middle Temple, to his Reader's feast, 
"which was so very extravagant and gfreate as the like 
had not been scene at any time. There were the Dukes 
of Ormond, Privy Seal, Bedford, Belasys, Halifax, and 
a world more of earls and lords." The following year 
Evelyn was again present at a Reader's feast as the 
guest of Sir Henry Peckham, the new Reader, which he 
describes as "a pompous entertainment," perhaps owing 
to the presence of the Archbishop of Canterbury. Lord 
Winchelsea was there, "a prodigious talker," and the 
Venetian Ambassador, with both of whom the diarist 
had "much discourse." 

On the first day of Michaelmas Term the Courts at 
Westminster Hall were formally opened by the judges, 
and they and the Serjeants used to attend in regular pro- 
cession, and the ceremony is kept up to this day by the 
judges and "silks" breakfasting with the Lord Chancellor 
at the House of Lords, and driving thence in carriages to 
the Law Courts, where they form a procession and walk 
up the Great Hall, before separating to their respective 
Courts. Up to the middle of the sixteenth century the 
judges appear to have ridden mules, a survival, doubtless, 
of the times when all lawyers were ecclesiastics. There 
is an old print of Cardinal Wolsey riding down Chancery 
Lane on a white mule to the Courts at Westminster on a 
similar occasion. Although the mule was typical alike of 
clerical humility and clerical tenacity of purpose, the 
proud Cardinal overshadowed the former by the more 
than regal appearance of his ostentatious progress. 



Z^6 THE INNER AND MIDDLE TEMPLE 

Seated on a saddle furnished with housings of crimson 
velvet and gilded stirrups ; clad in crimson robes sur- 
mounted by a tippet of sumptuous sables, and holding 
in his hand the doctored orange which served him for 
a vinaigrette, the delicate and haughty ecclesiastic 
delighted the populace and infuriated his enemies by the 
magnificence of his openings of term. Unable to equal 
such displays, the judges made one alteration in this 
ancient practice. In 1546 Sir John Whiddon, of the 
Inner Temple, a Justice of the King's Bench, persuaded 
the judges to go to Westminster on horseback. In 
Elizabeth's reign Hatton, and in the days of James I. 
Francis Bacon, in this fashion proceeded to Westminster, 
gladdening the lawyers and the sightseers by the gallant 
state with which they opened term. The latter Chancellor 
wore a suit of purple satin, and was attended by Prince 
Charles, the Lord Treasurer, the Lord Privy Seal, and 
a host of noblemen, knights, judges, and counsel. 

In the more civilised days of the seventeenth century, 
however, another innovation took place, and the lawyers 
went in coaches — lumbering vehicles drawn by four or six 
horses. In fact, during the Commonwealth the judges 
and leading counsel were so seldom seen in mounted 
processions that they were represented by lampoonists as 
having lost the equestrian art, and the following account 
lends some colour to this representation. 

In 1672 that gay minister of Charles II., Anthony 
Ashley Cooper, Earl of Shaftesbury, on obtaining the 
Great Seal, sought to restore the ancient ceremony to 
its pristine splendour. We are told by Roger North that 
a sudden freak seized him to make this procession on 
horseback, and accordingly the judges and counsel were 
told to get the necessary horses and garments. Notice 
having been given, all the town was there to see. At 
first all went well with the stately cavalcade. "But 
when they came to straights and interruption, for want of 



HISTORICAL SKETCH 337 

gravity in the beasts, and too much in the riders, there 
happened some curvetting" which made no little disorder. 
Judge Twisden, to his great afifright and the consternation 
of his grave brethren, was laid along in the dirt." "This 
accident," concludes North, "was enough to divert the 
like frolic for the future, and the very next term after they 
fell to their coaches as before," and so they have continued 
till the present day. 

In the old days the Lord Chancellor, as the supreme 
chief of the legal profession, was received upon his 
arrival at St. Stephen's by the Serjeants, who stood at 
the north-west end of the Hall, with their backs to their 
Court of Common Pleas. Thus standing in single file, 
they awaited the Chancellor and the judges, each of 
whom shook each serjeant by the hand, saying, " How 
d'ye do, brother? I wish you a good term." 

Twisden, who was one of the shining lights of the 
Inner Temple, never heard the last of his unlucky tumble. 
His chambers were under the north windows of the Inner 
Temple Hall, in a small, low building, named Twisden 
Buildings in his honour. He was one of the judges who 
sat at the trial of the twenty-nine regicides in 1660. His 
portrait hangs in the Parliament Chamber of his Inn. 

In the year following the disastrous fire in the Middle 
Temple of 1678 the gentlemen of Lincoln's Inn showed 
their sympathy with their ancient ally by deciding not to 
hold the Revels on the Feast of the Purification. 

With the accession of William the independence of the 
Bench was secured, the statute 12 and 13 Will. III. 
c. 2 finally settling that their commissions should be 
held " Quamdiu se bene gesserint" and that only upon an 
address by both Houses of Parliament could they be re- 
moved. In this reign too it was provided that in cases 
of treason prisoners should be allowed counsel. 

William was entertained at a banquet in the Hall, 
followed by a masque under the management of Beau 
z 



338 THE INNER AND MIDDEE TEMPLE 

Nash, a student of the Inn. Upon the King- offering in 
return to make the latter a knight he respectfully refused, 
saying, " Please, your Majesty, if you intend to make me 
knight, I wish it may be one of your Poor Knights of 
Windsor, and then I shall have a fortune at least to 
support my title." 

With the plot to assassinate the King in the Fulham 
Road on his return from the chase in Richmond Park the 
Temple is connected in the person of Sir William Perkins, 
one of the conspirators, who was the same evening 
arrested within the Temple precincts and committed to 
Newgate. Sir William was tried and convicted at the 
Old Bailey, and executed at Tyburn. 

William Cowper became a student of the Middle Temple 
in 1681. Bred to Liberal principles and to a hatred of 
Popery, he joined the Prince of Orange on his march to 
London "with a band of thirty chosen men," but upon 
the cessation of the troubles returned to the more peaceful 
pursuits at Westminster Hall. 

In the State trial of Lord Mohun for the murder of 
Richard Coote young Cowper established his reputation as 
an advocate, and in Parliament he at once took a leading 
position. Returned for Hertford, where his family in- 
fluence lay, his position was for a time endangered by an 
unfounded charge against his brother Spencer of the 
murder of a young Quakeress named Sarah Stout, who 
had clearly committed suicide upon the rejection of her 
advances. 

Cowper inaugurated his appointment as Lord Keeper 
by refusing to accept the customary New Year's gifts 
presented by the officers of the Court and the members of 
the Bar, amounting, it is said, to ;^i,5oo. 

As a reward for his labours in the union with Scotland 
he became Lord Chancellor in 1707. 

With the fall of the Whigs upon the useless impeach- 
ment of Dr. Sacheverell, Cowper followed his party into 



HISTORICAL SKETCH 339 

opposition, but upon the accession of George I. was 
reinstated in the office of Lord Chancellor. At the trial 
of the rebels of '15 he presided as Lord High Steward, 
and sustained his reputation for impartiality. 

A striking- instance of his courtesy and good feeling 
occurred when he rebuked counsel for making harsh 
personal remarks against Richard Cromwell in a cause 
to which the latter was a party, and invited the old 
Protector to a seat beside him on the bench. 

Joseph Jekyll, called by the Middle Temple in 1687, is 

described by Pope as an 

"Odd old Whig 
Who never changed his principles or wig," 

for during a period of forty years of political life he 
steadfastly adhered to his party, an exceptional occurrence 
in those days. As a reward for those services, and for 
his zeal in prosecuting the rebels of '15, notably the Earl 
of Wintoun and Francis Francia, he was appointed 
Master of the Rolls. 

In Parliament he took a leading part in exposing the 
South Sea Bubble and in prosecuting the fraudulent 
speculators. Having introduced a measure for the taxa- 
tion of spirits, he was attacked by the mob in Lincoln's 
Inn Fields, an attack which nearly terminated fatally. It 
had one useful result, however, as this open space was 
railed in and laid out as a garden. 

He married a sister of his friend Somers. 

In the trial of the aged Lord Lovat for high treason 
arising out of the troubles of '45 the Society of the 
Middle Temple was well represented. Philip Yorke, Lord 
Chancellor, presided as Lord High Steward at the trial in 
Westminster Hall, which commenced on March 9th, 1746, 
and lasted seven days. The Attorney-General, who con- 
ducted the case for the Crown, was Dudley Ryder, another 
member of the Middle Temple, assisted by the Solicitor- 
General, William Murray, of Lincoln's Inn, the celebrated 



340 THE INNER AND MIDDLE TEMPEE 

Lord Mansfield, and Sir John Strange, of the Middle. 
Other counsel for the Crown were Charles Yorke, the 
Chancellor's second son, afterwards himself Lord Chan- 
cellor, Lyttelton, and Legfge. 

The counsel assigned to Lovat were Starkie, Forrester, 
Ford, Wilmot, and Hamilton Gordon ; but as these could 
only speak on questions of law, and as only one or two 
such points were raised, they had little to do. 

The case was briefly opened by two of the managers 
for the House of Commons, and then Sir Dudley Ryder 
opened for the Crown, and Sir John Strange summed up 
the evidence, Lovat's written defence was allowed to be 
read by the clerk, to which Murray replied, followed by 
Ryder. 

The peers brought in a unanimous verdict of guilty, 
and the prisoner was sentenced, in the barbarous language 
of the time, to be drawn, hanged, disembowelled, and 
quartered. Although thus sentenced, Lovat was merely 
beheaded on Tower Hill, meeting his death with fortitude 
and spirit, jesting up to the last. He complained bitterly 
that his conviction should have been obtained upon the 
evidence of his own immediate personal attendants. 

This trial was conducted wnth conspicuous fairness by 
all concerned, and not least by the great Chancellor, who 
allowed the prisoner every latitude in his power. 

Philip Yorke was called in 1715, and had chambers in 
Pump Court. He became in due course Solicitor-General, 
Bencher, Treasurer, and Autumn Reader of the Middle 
Temple. So phenomenal was his rise, that within nine 
years from his call he was appointed Attorney-General, in 
which office he amassed a large fortune, out of which he 
purchased the Hardwicke estate in Gloucestershire. 

When Attorney-General it fell to his lot to prosecute 
Lord Chancellor Macclesfield, to whose son he had been 
tutor, and to whom he owed his rapid advancement. 
Torn by the conflicting sentiments of personal gratitude 




nm.ii' YOKk-r:, kari. of HARDwrcKK 



HISTORICAL SKETCH 34 1 

and public duty, he was, with reluctance, excused by the 
House from this ungracious task. 

Upon the resignation of Lord Chancellor King in 1733, 
public opinion and the ordinary "usage of professional 
promotion pointed to him as the successor. The Govern- 
ment, however, left this important matter to be settled 
between him and Sir Charles Talbot, the Solicitor-General. 
Sir Philip Yorke accordingly waived his superior claim 
and accepted in lieu of the higher office that of the Chief 
Justiceship of the King's Bench, and upon Talbot's death, 
four years later, he was appointed Lord Chancellor upon 
the nomination of Sir Robert Walpole. 

During his nearly twenty years' occupation of the Wool- 
sack Lord Hardwicke applied himself so assiduously to 
the business of his Court that he succeeded in moulding 
equitable principles into such a consistent body of doctrine 
as to earn for this period the appellation of the golden 
age of the Court of Chancery. As a proof of his trans- 
cendent judgment, only three of his decrees during the 
whole of this time were appealed from, and even those 
were affirmed by the House of Lords. 

This remarkable testimony to the correctness of his 
decisions is discounted by his detractor Lord Campbell, 
who asserts that Hardwicke always managed to arrange 
that he should be the only law lord sitting. 

By his contemporaries, with the solitary exception of 
Horace Walpole, he was naturally regarded as the ablest 
lawyer of his day, and as a judge he still ranks primus 
inter pares. It is interesting to observe that the principles 
laid down by him in the leading case of Chesterfield v. 
Janssen have been adopted in the Money-lenders Act, 1900, 
as applying to all money-lending transactions. 

He married Mary, a niece of Lord Somers. She was 
the daughter of Mr. Cocks, a Worcestershire squire, and 
when young Yorke asked for her hand the old gentle- 
man demanded his rent roll. it consists, replied the 



342 THE INNER AND MIDDLE TEMPLE 

suitor, of " a perch of ground in Westminster Hall," a 
reply characteristic of his ready wit and assurance. 

Hardwicke also presided at the trials of Lords Kilmar- 
nock, Cromarty, and Balmerino. 

His second son, Charles, was in his turn appointed 
Lord Chancellor, an office, however, which he did not 
live to enjoy. 

Dudley Ryder became Lord Chief Justice of the King's 
Bench in 1754, and died two years later. 

Sir John Strange was called to the Bar in 1718, and in 
1725 made an able defence in the impeachment of the 
Earl of Macclesfield. He succeeded Ryder as Solicitor- 
General, but resigned on account of his health in 1742, 
William Murray taking his place, hi 1750 he was ap- 
pointed Master of the Rolls. After holding this office 
with distinction for four years, he died and was buried in 
the Rolls Chapel. Sir John is the author of some well- 
known Reports. Upon his tombstone in Lowlayton 
Church, in Essex, the following epitaph is indicative of 
his sterling character : — 

'• Here lies an honest law}'er, that is Strange !" 



CHAPTER XVIII 




HISTORICAL SKETCH OF THE MIDDLE TEMPLE 

{continued) 

ANOTHER member of the 
Xjl Middle Temple who became 
Lord Chancellor of Ireland was 
James Hewitt, who as Serjeant 
Hewitt so bored the House of 
Commons with his dry and leng"thy 
oratory. On one occasion as 
Charles Townshend was leaving" 
the House he was asked whether 
the House was up. "No," replied 
Townshend, "but the Serjeant is." 
Thomas Clarke, also a member of this society, succeeded 

Strange as Master of the Rolls. He was an intimate of 

the second Earl of Macclesfield, and a proteg'e of Lord 

Hardwicke. 

In the Causidicade he is thus described as a candidate 

for the Solicitor-Generalship : — 

"Then CI — ke, who sat snug all this while in his place, 
Rose up, and put forward his ebony face. 
' I have reiison,' quo' he, ' now to take it amiss, 
That your Lordship han't call'd to me long before this." 

Called to the Bar by the Middle Temple in 1713, Arthur 
Onslow was in 1728 unanimously elected Speaker of the 
House of Commons, an office to which he was re-elected 
four times, retiring in 1761, when a unanimous vote was 

343 



344 THE INNER AND MIDDLE TEMPLE 

accorded him "for his constant and unwearied attendance 
in the chair during^ the course of above thirty-three years 
in five successive parliaments." 

Sir Fletcher Norton was called to the Bar in 1739 by 
the Middle Temple, making his way to the front as much 
by his want of principle as by his undoubted natural 
abilities. A great advocate, he was yet said to take 
money from both sides, and earned for himself the title 
of Sir Bull-face Double-Fee. Elected M.P. for Appleby, 
his election was declared void by the House. 

As Solicitor-General he exhibited the information against 
Wilkes for publishing the notorious "No. 45 " of the North 
Briton. In the following year he became Attorney-General, 
and appeared against William, Lord Byron, for the murder 
of William Chaworth. He was also concerned in the 
famous Douglas case in 1769. 

In the House he on one occasion accused Pitt of 
sounding the trumpet to rebellion, exclaiming, " He has 
chilled my blood at the idea." Pitt's reply was rather an 
argiunetitiim ad hominem than an answer to this accusation. 
"The gentleman says I have chilled his blood. I shall be 
glad to meet him in any place with the same opinions, 
when his blood is warmer." Sir Fletcher was too discreet 
to take any notice of this pointed invitation. 

In 1770 Norton was elected Speaker of the House of 
Commons. His ten years' occupancy of the chair was 
remarkable for two incidents widely differing in approba- 
tion. When the King's revenue in 1777 was increased 
by ^^100,000, Sir Fletcher, in presenting the Bill to 
George III., said :— 

"Your faithful Commons have, in a time of public 
distress, full of difficulty and danger and labouring under 
burdens almost too heavy to be borne, granted you a 
supply and great additional revenue, great beyond ex- 
ample, great beyond your Majesty's highest wants, but 
hoping that what we have contributed so liberally will be 
employed wisely." 



HISTORICAL SKETCH 345 

Three years later, in a debate in Committee, he com- 
plained that the Duke of Grafton had promised him the 
Great Seal upon the next vacancy, and that Lord North 
had been privy to this bargain, and yet had broken it 
by offering a large pecuniary bribe to Lord Chief Justice 
de Grey to quit that post in favour of Wedderburn. After 
some debate, saj-s Horace Walpole, "the dialogue de- 
generated into Billingsgate between Lord North and Sir 
Fletcher Norton." 

Norton was created a peer by a side-wind. Mr. 
Dunning having been raised to the peerage on the 
recommendation of Lord Shelburne, a mere Secretary 
of State, Lord Rockingham, Prime Minister, insisted 
upon the King bestowing a similar favour on a nominee 
of his own. Such a dearth was there just then of gentle- 
men proper to be peers, that the choice fell almost of 
necessity upon Sir Fletcher Norton. He died at his house 
in Lincoln's Inn Fields in 1789. 

William de Grey, a member of a very ancient family, 
was called by the Middle Temple in 1742. 

In 1766 he succeeded the Hon. Charles Yorke as 
Attorney-General, and in 1770 he spoke in the House 
against the legality of the return of Wilkes for Middle- 
sex. As law officer he conducted the proceedings against 
Wilkes after his conviction in 1768. His wife was a 
daughter of William Cowper, M.P. for Hertford, and 
first cousin of the poet. 

For nearly ten years he presided over the Court of 
Common Pleas, and upon his retirement in 1780 he was 
created Lord W^alsingham. 

On September 23rd, 1768, the Temple was honoured 
by a visit from the half-imbecile King of Denmark, 
Christian VII., on his way to a banquet at the Mansion 
House. Taking boat at Whitehall, the King landed at 
a platform specially constructed for the occasion and 
"matted on purpose" at the Temple Stairs, where he 



346 THE INNER AND MIDDLE TEMPLE 

was received by the Benchers of both societies and con- 
ducted to the Middle Temple Hall, where "an elegant 
collation " was awaiting- him. Christian had recently 
married Princess Caroline, sister of George III, Owing 
to his mental condition, which bordered on imbecility, he 
had been sent on a tour through England and France, 
and was accompanied by Struensee, who, obtaining com- 
plete influence over him, and becoming the paramour of 
Caroline, usurped the supreme authority in the kingdom. 
Having aroused all classes against him by his energetic 
measures of reform, Struensee fell from power, was cast 
into prison and executed. Caroline was also placed in 
confinement in the Castle of Cronsberg, and, confessing 
her guilt, was divorced and conveyed to Celle in Hanover, 
where she shortly afterwards died. 

Richard Pepper Arden, Lord Alvanley, was called by 
the Middle Temple in 1769. He joined the Chancery 
Bar, and occupied chambers in Stone Buildings, Lincoln's 
Inn, upon the same staircase upon which those of 
William Pitt are said' to have been. Becoming an 
intimate friend of the great statesman, in spite of the 
enmity of Lord Thurlow, Arden advanced rapidly in 
the profession. He became successively Solicitor- and 
Attorney-General, Chief Justice of Chester, and Master 
of the Rolls. Upon Lord Eldon accepting the Great Seal, 
he was appointed Lord Chief Justice of the Common Pleas. 

In his early career he was constituted one of the judges 
on the South Wales Circuit in conjunction with Daines 
Barrington. 

In a case before Thurlow the age of a lady was 
in question, and Arden, in his excitement, said to his 
opponent, " I'll lay you a bottle of wine she is more than 
forty-five." Recognising his impropriety, he hastened 
to apologise to the Chancellor, declaring that he had 
forgotten where he was. " I suppose," growled Thurlow, 
"you thought you were in your own Court." 



HISTORICAL SKETCH 347 

It was Lord Alvanley who decided the famous Thellussoii 
will case, by which an absurd accumulation of property 
contemplated by an eccentric testator was declared 
invalid. 

A document which, in spite of its rhythmic form, met 
with a better fate, was the last will and testament of one 
John Hedg-es, who died in 1737. It is as follows : — 

"The fifth day of May 
Being- airy and sjay, 
And to hyp not inclined, 
But of vigorous mind 
And my body in health, 
I'll dispose of my wealth 
And all I'm to leave 
On this side the grave 
To some one or other, 
And I think to my brother, 
Because I foresaw 
That my brethren-in-law. 
If I did not take care. 
Would come in for their share. 
Which I no wise intended 
Till their manners are mended. 
And of that, God knows, there's no sig-n ; 
I do therefore enjoin, 
And do strictly command. 
As witness my hand. 
That nought I have got 
Shall go into hotch-pot. 
But I give and devise, 
As much as in me lies, 
To the son of my mother. 
My own dear brother, 
To have and to hold 
All my silver and gold. 
As the affectionate pledges 
Of his brother, 

John Hedges." 

This extraordinary will was duly proved, and passed 
a very considerable personal estate. 



348 THE INNER AND MIDDLE TEMPLE 

Another inmate of Brick Court was Lloyd Kenyon, 
who was called by the Middle Temple in 1756. His 
slender means obliged him to practise the strictest 
economy, which hardened into a parsimony lasting all 
his life. In later years he frequently boasted of dining 
with Dunning and Home Tooke at a small eating-house 
near Chancery Lane for "j^d. a head. 

After devilling for Thurlow, when the latter became 
Chancellor he was appointed Chief Justice of Chester, 
and within the next eight years became member of Parlia- 
ment, Attorney-General, Master of the Rolls, Chief 
Justice of the King's Bench, and a peer. He defended 
Lord George Gordon at the Old Bailey, with Erskine as 
his junior ; but although a great lawyer, he could not 
compare with the latter as an advocate. He succeeded 
Lord Mansfield as head of the Court of King's Bench. 

Like Thurlow, he was not very even-tempered. 

"Pray, Mr. Kenyon," said Lord Mansfield, "keep 
your temper." "Your lordship," interposed Mr. Cowper, 
who was seated near, "had better recommend Mr. Kenyon 
to part with it altogether." 

John Dunning was elected Treasurer of the Middle 
Temple in 1779. As we have seen, as a student he 
was not overburdened with cash, but less thrifty than 
Kenyon, for, as Tooke adds to the story of their dinners, 
"As to Dunning and myself, we were generous, for we 
gave the girl who waited upon us a penny apiece, but 
Kenyon, who always knew the value of money, some- 
times rewarded her with a halfpenny and sometimes 
with a promise." 

Called in 1756, Dunning at first met with little success. 
It is an ill wind that does no one any good, and Serjeant 
Glynn, placed hors de combat by the gout on circuit, left 
all his cases to Dunning, who, making the most of his 
opportunity, rose rapidly in the profession. As a Whig, 
he took a prominent part in the political questions of 



HISTORICAL SKETCH 349 

the day, and was rewarded by his party with the post 
of Solicitor - General. Upon his resig-nation he was 
succeeded by Thurlow. In opposition, he strenuously 
and continuously resisted the mad policy of the Govern- 
ment which lost us the New England colonies, and in 
1780 moved his famous resolution that "the influence 
of the Crown has increased, is increasing-, and ought 
to be diminished," which he carried, and in 1782 he 
supported Conway's motion against the further prose- 
cution of the American War, His subsequent acceptance 
of office with Fox and Burke was accompanied by a 
patent in the peerage as Baron Ashburton. But for the 
King's obstinate retention of Thurlow, Dunning would 
have ascended the Woolsack. The joint authorship of 
Jujiius's Letters has been attributed to him. Dunning 
lived in Pump Court, "two pair up." 

Treasurer of the Middle Temple in 1785, James Mans- 
field was connected with two notable cases. In 1768 he 
was one of the counsel for John Wilkes, and in 1776 
defended the Duchess of Kingston in the bigamy trial. 

As Solicitor-General he appeared for the Crown in the 
prosecution of Lord George Gordon, and had the dis- 
advantage of replying to Erskine's splendid speech, which 
procured the acquittal of the prisoner. Mansfield succeeded 
Lord Alvanley as Chief Justice of the Common Pleas. 

The Middle Temple may well be proud of having pro- 
duced such a man as Robert Gifford. The son of a 
grocer and linendraper, he was, like Lord King, an 
entirely self-made man. Called in 1808, (iifford became 
Solicitor-General in 1817, and after distinguishing himself 
in the prosecution of James Watson for high treason, and 
in the trials of the Luddites at Derby, he was appointed 
Attorney-General two years later, in which capacity he 
conducted the prosecution of Arthur Thistlewood and the 
other Cato Street conspirators. He also opened the 
charges against Queen Caroline. 



350 THE INNER AND MIDDLE TEMPLE 

After holding- the post of Lord Chief Justice of the 
Common Pleas for a few months, he was removed to the 
Rolls. But for his premature death at the age of forty- 
seven he would undoubtedly have succeeded Lord Eldon 
as Chancellor. His chambers were at 6, Stone Buildings, 
Lincoln's Inn. 

William Draper Best was called by the Middle Temple 
in 1784, and after a busy professional and political life, 
was appointed Chief Justice of the Common Pleas in 
1824. In politics at first a Whig, he turned and became 
a zealous supporter of the Tories, and through his friend- 
ship with the Prince Regent and his conversion to Toryism 
was, a few years later, raised to the Bench. He was 
regarded as an indifferent judge, and allowed his political 
sentiments to bias his judicial conduct. 

No man more distinguished than John Scott has graced 
the history of either Inn. A pupil of his elder brother, 
William, then fellow and tutor of University College, 
young Scott soon made his way to the front at Oxford, 
but sacrificed his prospects there to a runaway match 
with Bessie Surtees, daughter of a banker at Newcastle, 
his native town, by placing a ladder to her window, down 
which Bessie descended into his arms "with an unthrift 
love." 

Leaving Oxford, he entered the Middle Temple. Called 
in 1776, he moved with his wife and child into Carey 
Street. It was from this house that John Scott escorted 
his lovely young wife through the Gordon rioters for safety 
to the Temple. Before they reached the Middle Temple 
gateway her dress was torn, her hat lost, and her ringlets 
hanging in confusion down her shoulders. 

"The scoundrels have got your hat, Bessie," cried her 
husband, "but never mind — -they have left you your hair." 

He was on the point of leaving town, so slow was his 
progress, when by a lucky decision in his favour in a case 
in which he was engaged, briefs began to pour in. 



HISTORICAL SKETCH 351 

Elected M.P. for Weobly on Thurlow's recommendation, 
he made his presence powerfully felt in the House, and 
became an indispensable supporter of Pitt's ministry. 

As Attorney-General he conducted the prosecution of 
Hardy, Home Tooke, and Thelwall. After his acquittal 
Tooke declared that if it should be his misfortune to be 
tried again for high treason he would plead guilty rather 
than listen to the long speeches of Sir John Scott ! 

It was during these trials that Lord Eldon was again in 
danger from a London mob. "The mob," he says, 
"kept thickening round me till I came to Pleet Street, 
one of the worst parts that I had to pass through, and 
the cries began to be threatening. ' Down with him ! 
Now is the time, lads ; do for him ! ' and various others 
horrible enough ; but I stood up and spoke as loud as I 
could : * You may do for me if you like, but remember, 
there will be another Attorney-General before eight o'clock 
to-morrow morning, and the King will not allow the trials 
to be stopped ! ' Upon this one man shouted out, ' Say 
you so? You are right to tell us. Let us give him three 
cheers, my lads!' So they actually cheered me, and I got 
safe to my own door." 

After holding the oflice of Lord Chief Justice of the 
Common Fleas for two years, in 1801 Lord Eldon received 
the Great Seal, which he held till 1806, when he resigned 
it into the hands of Lord Erskine. Reappointed the 
following year, Lord Eldon retained the Seal for no less 
than twenty years, a period full of political and national 
trouble and anxietv. 

In the Corn Law riots of 1816, the mob broke into 
Lord Eldon's house in Bedford Square, from which, with 
the assistance of four constables, he afterwards drove 
them, capturing two with his own hands. 

As a judge he was declared, even by his bitterest 
political opponents such as Brougham and Romilly, to 
be one of the greatest. As a politician his conservative 



352 THE INNER AND MIDDLE TEMPLE 

apprehensions of political reforms have, as usual, proved 
to be groundless. 

In 1783, Scott had chambers at No. 9, Holborn Court, 
Gray's Inn. 

His brother William, the eccentric and learned Lord 
Stowell, was an intimate friend of Dr. Johnson, a friend- 
ship formed at Oxford, and lasting until the Doctor's 
death. 

Like Blackstone, a University lecturer, William Scott 
took chambers at 3, King's Bench Walk. After obtain- 
ino- in 1779 his D.C.L., he was admitted an advocate 
at Doctors' Commons, and called to the Bar by the 
Middle Temple the following year. His profound know- 
ledge of history and civil law acquired at Oxford soon 
brought him business in abundance, and he became Judge 
of the Consistory Court of London, and later Judge of 
the High Court of Admiralty, a post which he held from 
1790 to 1828, and in which he gained his great renown as 
a jurist. 

At the time of his resignation Sir Walter Scott writes : 
"Met my old and much esteemed friend. Lord Stowell, 
looking very frail and even comatose. Quantum mutatus! 
He was one of the pleasantest men I ever knew." 

Although convivial and fond of mixing in good society, 
which to a wit and scholar such as Dr. Scott was always 
open to him, he was singularly parsimonious. 

His second marriage with the Dowager Lady Sligo was 
not wanting in dramatic interest. It fell to Sir William 
Scott to pronounce sentence upon her son, the Marquis, 
convicted of enticing two man-of-war's men to join the 
crew of his yacht at Malta. Upon the marriage Sir 
William removed to her house in Grafton Street, taking 
his own door-plate with him and placing it under his wife's. 

Jekyll thereupon condoled with Sir William for having 
<'to knock under," so the plates were transposed, when 
Jekyll observed, "You don't knock under now?" 




SlU WILLIAM l-.I.ACKMUNIi 



HISTORICAL SKETCH 353 

" Not now," said Sir William. *' Now you knock up." 

Upon Sir Henry Halford, the well-known physician, 
asserting that at forty every man was either a fool or 
a physician. Lord Stowell with an arch smile retorted, 
** May he not be both. Sir Henry? " 

Henry Fielding", the novelist, became a student of the 
Middle Temple in 1737, and three years later, upon his 
call to the Bar, "chambers were assigned to him in Pump 
Court." He was connected with the law in the person of 
his grandfather, Sir Henry Gould, a Justice of the King's 
Bench, and was descended from William Fielding, first 
Earl of Denbigh. 

Up to his entrance to the Temple Fielding had been a 
playwright of doubtful character, and when the Act of 
1737 to restrict the licence of the stage was passed he 
found his occupation gone. 

Joining the Western Circuit, he assiduously attended 
sessions, but without success. Whilst a student he had 
contributed to periodical literature, and upon the appear- 
ance of Richardson's Pamela Fielding parodied the book, 
to the great disgust of the author. 

Appointed a police magistrate for Westminster in 1748, 
Fielding, after a hard struggle, in which he had lost his 
wife and child, gained timely relief from pecuniary em- 
barrassment, and the opportunity to show his real 
capabilities. 

The immediate result was Tom Joties, that immortal 
work, in which the original of "Sophia" was his first 
wife. Miss Craddock. 

In 1749 Fielding was elected Chairman of Quarter 
Sessions held at Hicks's Hall, now Clerkenwell Sessions 
House. 

He died at Lisbon, where he had gone for his health, in 

1754- 

On the 6th of April, 1773, Richard Brinsley Sheridan 
became a member of the Middle Temple, and a week 
2 A 



354 THE INNER AND MIDDLE TEMPLE 

later married Miss Linley, whom he had previously 
rescued from an unworthy admirer, and for whose sake 
he had fought two duels. 

Statesman and advocate as he was, he will be best 
remembered as the author of The Rivals and The School 
for Scandal. Already an Under - Secretary of State, 
Sheridan's speech upon the charges against Warren 
Hastings relating to the begums occupied five hours 
and forty minutes, and was regarded as one of the most 
memorable in the annals of Parliament, 

His speech as one of the managers of the impeachment 
before the Lords in Westminster Hall was the topic of the 
day. As a politician of wide and liberal views, as a 
supporter of all social measures of reform, as a dramatist 
unrivalled since Shakespeare, as an orator in the first 
flight in the age of Burke, Pitt, and Fox, and as a man 
of unstinted generosity and sturdy independence, he is a 
member of whom any society might well be proud. 

In 1799, when twenty years of age, Thomas Moore 
entered himself at the Middle Temple, taking with him 
his Anacreon, which was published the following year, 
but he does not appear ever to have occupied chambers 
here. 

That strange literary curiosity Thomas de Quincey 
began to keep his terms at the Middle Temple in 1808, 
apparently without any idea of practising. 

In 1 82 1 he returned to London, and formed an intimacy 
with Lamb and Talfourd, whose acquaintance he had 
formerly made in the Temple. 

The principal events affecting the legal profession 
during the short reign of William IV. were an increase 
in the number of the judges, and the abolition of the 
office of a Welsh judge. 

Many of these latter appointments were held by briefless 
barristers, and the title of a " Welsh judge " had become 
a term of reproach. 



HISTORICAL SKETCH 355 

The Hon. Mrs. Georg-e Chappie Norton was doubly 
connected with the Middle Temple. Herself the grand- 
daughter of Sheridan, her father being Tom Sheridan, the 
eldest son, she married Norton, himself a member of 
this society, and brother of Lord Grantley, a descendant 
of Sir Fletcher Norton, also a Middle Templar. 

The Nortons came of an ancient race. Richard Norton 
and his brothers, Christopher, Marmaduke, and Thomas, 
joined the rising in the North of 1569, were convicted of 
high treason and attainted. This event is recorded by 
Wordsworth in his White Doe of Ryhtone ; or, The Fate of 
the Nortons. 

The Hon. George was M.P. for Guildford from 1826 to 
1830. His chambers were at i, Garden Court. \\\ 1827 
he married "Carry" Sheridan. The latter and her two 
sisters were celebrated society beauties of their day, like 
the three Miss Wyndhams of our own time, but Carry 
was specially known as the wit. "You see," said 
Helen, the eldest, afterwards Lady Dufferin, " Georgy's 
the beauty and Carry's the wit, and I ought to be the 
good one, but I am not " — a modest disclaimer which was 
far from the truth, for Lady Dufferin was as good as she 
was beautiful. Georgy became Lady Seymour. 

Through the influence of his wife, who was a connection 
of Lord Melbourne, Mr. Norton was appointed police 
magistrate for Whitechapel, from which he was subse- 
quently transferred to Lambeth. Mrs. Norton contributed 
largely to periodical literature, and attained some reputa- 
tion as a novelist. Her earnings with the pen, at any 
rate, formed the larger portion of their joint income, but 
her husband continued to feel aggrieved that she had not 
used her influence with Lord Melbourne to better effect. 
The latter was a constant visitor at their house in George 
Street, Westminster. In fact, in addition to frequently 
dining with the young couple, he was sufficiently in- 
discreet to pay almost daily visits to Mrs. Norton in her 



356 THE INNER AND MIDDLE TEMPLE 

husband's absence. Whether Mr. Norton really believed 
in the charges he presently made against his wife or not, 
he allowed himself to be made the tool of the political 
enemies of the Prime Minister, amongst whom not the 
least violent was his brother, Lord Grantley. 

These charges culminated in an action for crim. con. 
against Lord Melbourne. The case came on for trial on 
June 22nd, 1836, in Westminster Hall, before Lord Chief 
Justice Tindal and a Middlesex special jury. Sir William 
FoUett led for Mr. Norton, and Sir John Campbell, 
Attorney-General (afterwards Lord Chancellor), Serjeant 
Talfourd, and Frederick Thesiger appeared for the de- 
fence. The trial commenced at 9.30 a.m., and Campbell 
finished his reply of three hours and a half at 10.30 p.m. 
Then the judge summed up at some length, and the jury 
in a few seconds found for the defendant amid tumultuous 
bursts of applause. Lord Grantley occupied a seat on the 
bench, but was not called. He was severely trounced 
by Campbell, and must have passed a most unpleasant 
quart dlieiire. The Court rose at 11.30. 

Trials in those days were truly trials to all besides the 
parties more immediately concerned. 

The weak attack by Follett is said to have suggested 
to Dickens, who was then writing the Pickwick Papers, 
the character of Serjeant Buzfuz. The evidence against 
Mrs. Norton was of the weakest. At the same time, 
judging merely from the report of the case, it is doubtful 
whether in a petition for a divorce under modern con- 
ditions the result might not have been otherwise. The 
relationship between the parties was, to say the least, in- 
discreet. Mrs. Norton is the original of Diana Warwick 
in George Meredith's powerful novel Diana of the Cross- 
ivays. Mr. Warwick is, of course, Norton, and Lord 
Dannisburgh the Prime Minister Melbourne. Norton is 
said to have ill-treated his beautiful wife, and he cer- 
tainly appears to have been a jealous, bad-tempered, 



HISTORICAL SKETCH 357 

vindictive fellow. As Meredith puts into the mouth of 
Diana: "He took what I could get for him, and then 
turned and drubbed me for getting it." 

Indolent and inattentive to the duties of his post, he 
had only himself to thank for not obtaining the promotion 
he sought from Lord Melbourne, and the refusal by the 
latter to further assist him may have been one of the 
motives in his attempt to pillory his wife and the Prime 
Minister to the public gaze. 

There is no foundation whatever for connecting the 
name of Mrs. Norton with the sale of the secret of Sir 
Robert Peel's intended abolition of the Corn Laws to the 
editor of the Times. Mr. Meredith has made dramatic 
use of this incident, but in recent editions has withdrawn 
the insinuation. 

After the death of her husband Mrs. Norton married 
Sir William. Stirling Maxwell in 1876, and died within a 
few months of her marriage. 

Her second son, Thomas Brinsley, succeeded as fourth 
Lord Grantley. 

It was in Mrs. Norton's drawing-room in George Street, 
as her nephew, the late Lord Dufferin, has often recounted, 
that Disraeli met Lord Melbourne for the first time. This 
was the moment when Disraeli, consumed with ambition, 
had just returned from an unsuccessful attempt to enter 
Parliament. Lord Melbourne, after listening to the young 
politician's story of frustrated schemes, good-naturedly 
asked, "Well, now, tell me, what do you want to be?" 
"I want to be Prime Minister," came the unabashed 
reply. 

We have already referred to Talfourd as the friend and 
biographer of Lamb. A member of the Middle Temple, 
Serjeant Thomas Noon Talfourd was not only distinguished 
as a powerful advocate, but as a successful politician, 
dramatic author, and writer. 

In the House he materially helped to carry two great 



358 THE INNER AND MIDDLE TEMPLE 

measures : one securing to a mother the right of access 
to her children as long as her character is unchallenged, 
and the other securing to an author for an extended period 
the results of his labours. Appointed to the Court of 
Common Pleas in 1849, he died on the Bench of apoplexy 
at the Stafford Assizes in 1854. 

Talfourd's chambers were at 2, Elm Court, but when 
he made Lamb's acquaintance he was living in Inner 
Temple Lane. 

He was still a serjeant when in 1840 his last play, 
Glencoe, was produced by Macready. To his Honour 
Judge Parry, a Bencher of the Middle, appears to belong 
the distinction of being the first to produce a dramatic 
work whilst still holding judicial office. 

Winthrop Mackworth Praed, the poet, was a younger 
son of Serjeant William Mackworth Praed. After a 
brilliant career at Cambridge, where he read classics 
with Macaulay, he was called to the Bar by the Middle 
Temple in 1829, and joined the Norfolk Circuit. He 
entered Parliament in 1830 as the purchaser of a rotten 
borough, abolished by the Reform Act, to which he was 
opposed. 

Whilst without a seat he contributed both prose and 
verse to the Morning Post, which became — it is said in 
consequence of his contributions — the leading Conservative 
paper. 

It is strange to-day to find the Duke of Wellington 
furnishing Praed with materials wherewith to defend 
him in the Mornuig Post against the attacks of the 
Times! Returned at the General Election of 1834 for 
Great Yarmouth, Praed's subsequent political career was 
not conspicuous. He died of consumption in 1839. His 
chambers were at 2, Brick Court. 

That famous soldier Sir Henry Havelock became a 
member of the Middle Temple in 181 3, and was a pupil 
of Joseph Chitty, whose chambers were at 6, Pump 



HISTORICAL SKETCH 359 

Court, and a fellow-student of Talfourd. The following 
year, owing" to a misunderstanding with his father, he 
was obliged to abandon the law, and entered the service 
as second lieutenant in the 95th Regiment, his captain 
being Sir Harry Smith, of South African fame. What 
was lost to the law was gained to the service. The 
capture of Cawnpore and the relief of Lucknow link 
Havelock's name indissolubly with some of the most 
notable events in our national history. 

With chambers at 5, Essex Court, but a member of 
the Inner Temple, Serjeant Alexander Pulling will go 
down to posterity rather as the author of Tlie Order of 
the 6'y//"than as a lawyer. He also wrote numerous other 
treatises, the most notable of which is The Laws^ Customs, 
and Regulations of the City and Port of London. Called 
in 1843, he went the Western Circuit, where he eventually 
became leader. He died in 1895. 

Upon the death of Lord Abinger in 1844, Sir Frederick 
Pollock, a member of a family highly distinguished both 
in arms and in law, succeeded him as Lord Chief Baron 
of the Exchequer. Called by the Middle Temple in 1807, 
after a brilliant career at Cambridge, where he was 
Senior Wrangler, he at once forced himself to the front 
as an advocate, and in 1834 was appointed Attorney- 
General by Sir Robert Peel. Sir Frederick's chambers 
were at 18, Serjeants' Inn, Fleet Street. 

Sir John Jervis, chosen Treasurer of the Middle Temple 
in 1846, commenced life with a commission in the 
Carabineers, but, leaving the service, was called to the 
Bar in 1824. He was a member of the first Reformed 
Parliament and a constant supporter of the Liberal 
party. As Solicitor- and Attorney-General, he was con- 
cerned in the numerous political prosecutions of the 
"forties." His conduct in the Chartist trials was so 
moderate as to earn for him the respect of all parties, 
and in 1850 he was deservedly raised to the position 



36o THE INNER AND MIDDLE TEMPLE 

of Lord Chief Justice of the Common Pleas, where his 
judgments were said to be "models at once of legal 
learning, accurate reasoning, masculine sense, and 
almost faultless language." Jervis had chambers in 
New Court and at 3, Essex Court. 

Called to the Bar in 1819 by the Middle Temple, Sir 
William Erie, ten years senior to Sir Alexander Cock- 
burn, succeeded the latter as Lord Chief Justice of the 
Common Pleas in 1859. For seven years Erie occupied 
this position with the greatest distinction and dignity, 
earning the well-deserved title of the best judge who 
ever sat on the Bench. Few men were more beloved, 
either in Court or in his own home, than Chief Justice 
Erie. Lord Coleridge declared him to be the finest 
advocate of his time. 

Erie's chambers were at 14, Paper Buildings. 

A member of the Middle Temple who figured unhappily 
in the Parliament of 1858 was Edward Auchmuty Glover, 
who was accused of having made a false declaration of 
his property qualification as member of the House of 
Commons. This declaration had become a mere formality, 
but someone had to be the scapegoat, and the lot fell 
on the unfortunate Glover, whose election was declared 
void, and who was prosecuted, convicted, and sent to 
Newgate. This incident led to the immediate abolition 
of the property qualification. 

Glover's chambers were at i, Plowden Buildings. 

Sir William Erie's successor, William Bovill, was also 
a member, and at that moment Treasurer, of the Middle 
Temple. He is best remembered by the public as the 
judge who tried the first Tichborne case, when he directed 
the prosecution of the plaintiff for perjury. As an 
advocate at Nisi Prius he was said to be second to none, 
and although not a great judge, he scarcely deserves 
the ill-natured comment made by Lord Westbury, who, 
on looking in at the Tichborne trial, remarked, "Ah, 



HISTORICAL SKETCH 361 

poor Bovill, if he only knew a little law, he'd be the very 
worst judge on the bench." 

Bovill had chambers at 3, Essex Court. 

Sir Alexander Cockburn was called to the Bar by the 
Middle Temple in 1829, and had chambers at 3, Harcourt 
Building-s. A strong supporter of the Liberal party in 
the House, he was selected to succeed Sir John Romilly 
as Solicitor-General in 1850, and upon the latter's pro- 
motion to the Rolls took his place as Attorney-General. 
From 1856 he presided in the Court of Common Pleas for 
nearly three years, and upon Lord Campbell accepting 
the Great Seal succeeded him as Lord Chief Justice of 
the Queen's Bench. 

It was said of him by Serjeant Shee, that in high legal 
attainments Cockburn was surpassed by none of his pre- 
decessors, that he owed his distinction not to backstairs 
influence, not to political intrigue, not to political sub- 
servience, but to his endowments, superior talents, and 
strength of character. 

A story is related by Croker of going with young 
Cockburn to visit Sir Robert (then Mr.) Peel. On being 
told that Mr. Peel was out of town Cockburn, said, " Oh, 
no, I know he came to town this morning." This reply 
altered the porter's demeanour, and most respectfully he 
asked, "Sir, are you the Lord Chancellor?" "Why, no 
— not yet," replied Cockburn, "but I hope to be soon." 
"Oh, sir," said the porter, "in that case my master has 
desired that you should be admitted," and admitted he 
was, to the great astonishment of Peel and amusement of 
Croker. 

As an advocate he first came into public notice for his 
eloquent defence of McNaghtcn, the mad murderer of 
Drummond, Peel's private secretary. In the House he 
made his reputation by the brilliant speech defending 
Palmerston's spirited demand of compensation for Don 
Pacifico, a British subject resident at Athens, whose 



362 THE INNER AND MIDDLE TEMPLE 

house had been wrecked in an anti-Semite riot. Although 
an advocate rather than a lawyer, Cockburn, once on 
the Bench, became a great judge. His award on the 
Alabama case entitles him to a high place as a jurist. 
Amongst the causes celebres tried before Cockburn, the 
Tichborne case stands first. After summing up, a judg- 
ment which fills two volumes of eight hundred pages 
each, he administered a well-deserved rebuke to the 
defendant's counsel. Dr. Kenealy. 

At a banquet given by the Bar in 1864 to M. Berryer, 
the great French advocate, Lord Brougham had said that 
"the first great quality of an advocate is to reckon 
everything subordinate to the interests of his clients." 
In replying to the toast of "The Judges," Cockburn's 
speech is the best index to his character. 

"Much as I admire," he said, "the great abilities of 
M. Berryer, to my mind his crowning virtue — as it ought 
to be that of every advocate — is that he has throughout 
his career conducted his cases with untarnished honour. 
The arms which an advocate wields he ought to use as 
a warrior, not as an assassin. He ought to uphold the 
interests of his client per fas and not per nefas. He 
ought to know how to reconcile the interests of his client 
with the eternal interests of truth and justice." 

At the banquet were also present Sir Roundell Palmer, 
the then Attorney-General, afterwards Lord Chancellor, 
in the chair ; Mr. Gladstone, then Chancellor of the 
Exchequer ; Sir Fitzroy Kelly, Lord Bramwell, and Lord 
Hatherley. 

Cockburn's chambers were at 3, Harcourt Buildings. 

Richard Bethell for a time followed closely in the foot- 
steps of his fellow-Templar, Sir Alexander Cockburn, 
being Solicitor-General with him and taking his place as 
Attorney-General, when he was promoted to the chiefship 
of the Common Pleas in 1856. 

Upon the death of Lord Campbell in 1861, Sir Richard 



HISTORICAL SKETCH 363 

Bethell succeeded to his high office, which he held with 
the greatest distinction as a judge till 1865, when he felt 
bound to resign owing to some scandal connected with 
his patronage, in which there does not appear to be any- 
thing affecting his honour beyond culpable looseness in 
its administration. As an advocate Bethell's success was 
phenomenal, his annual income amounting to as much as 
^24,000. His wit was sparkling, and his powers of 
repartee such as to render him dreaded as an opponent. 
But these powers bordered on the rude, and showed a 
lack of nice feeling and good taste. Unlike most men of 
great assurance at the Bar, Bethell was also a great 
lawyer. A member of the Liberal party, he promoted 
several great measures of reform, and laboured strenu- 
ously in the cause of statute law revision and legal 
education. 

When Chief Justice Erie had retired from the Bench 
Bethell once remarked to him, " I wish, Erie, you would 
sometimes come in to the Privy Council and relieve me 
from my onerous duties there, for we can't get on without 
three, and there is no one else I can apply to." Erie 
replied that as he was getting a little deaf he feared he 
would be of no use. "Not at all, my dear fellow," said 

Bethell. " Of my two usual colleagues is as deaf 

as a post and hears nothing, is so stupid that he can 

understand nothing he hears, and yet we three together 
make an admirable Court." 

Bethell occupied chambers at No. 9, New Square, 
Lincoln's Inn. 

The Middle Temple was amply represented in the 
Tichborne case. The proceedings commenced with an 
ejectment suit in Chancery, and then came before the 
Court of Common Pleas in the shape of an issue as to 
whether the claimant was or was not the heir to Sir John 
Tichborne. In this case, besides Bovill on the bench, 
the Solicitor-General, Sir John Duke Coleridge, Henry 



364 THE INNER AND MIDDLE TEMPLE 

Hawkins, Q.c, Sir George Honeyman, Q.c. , and Charles 
Synge Christopher Bowen, who appeared for the defence, 
were all members of the Middle Temple. Henry 
Matthews, Q.c, of Lincoln's Inn, now Viscount Llandaff, 
held a watching brief. For the claimant were Serjeant 
Ballantine and Hardinge Stanley Giffard, Q.c, now Lord 
Chancellor, with Pollard and Francis Jeune as juniors. 

In the trial at Bar on the criminal charge of perjury 
before Cockburn, Mellor, and Lush, the Crown was 
represented by Hawkins, Q.c, Serjeant Parry, Chapman 
Barber, J. C. Mathew, and Charles Bowen. 

For the defence appeared Dr. Kenealy, Q.c, and Patrick 
McMahon, both of Gray's Inn, and Cooper Wyld, of the 
Inner Temple. 

John Duke Coleridge, like Simon Harcourt and Heneage 
Finch, was deservedly styled the "silver-tongued," for with 
the exception of Cockburn, Gladstone, Sir Robert Peel, 
and Father Burke, according to the late Lord Russell, he 
had no superior in beauty of voice and power of rhetoric. 

From Oxford he brought with him to the Temple a 
great reputation. Of him Principal Shairp penned these 
lines in his Balliol Sc/wlars, 1840-3 :— 

" Fair-haired and tall, slim, but of stately mien, 
Another in the bright bloom of nineteen 
Fresh from the fields of Eton came. 
Whate'er of beautiful or poet sung, 
Or statesman uttered, round his memory clung, 
Before him shone resplendent heights of fame, 
With friends around to bind ; no wit so fine 
To wing the jest, the sparkling tale to tell." 

It was not until he took silk and became a Bencher 
that Coleridge appeared prominently in the Courts at 
Westminster, but from that time his services were eagerly 
sought in all the causes celebres of the day. 

It is with the Tichborne case that the name of Coleridge 
will be best remembered. In the opinion of that master 



HISTORICAL SKETCH 365 

of the art of cross-examination, Lord Russell, his cross- 
examination was the best piece of work Coleridgfe ever 
did, although not of the brilliant character of Hawkins' 
effort with the witness Baigent. Its full effect was dis- 
covered when the facts as they ultimately appeared in the 
defendant's case were fully disclosed. 

This cross-examination of " Tichborne " lasted twenty- 
one days, and of the speech Lord Russell says, "A more 
masterly exposition of complicated facts, combined with 
a searching criticism of the claimant's evidence, has rarely, 
if ever, been delivered." 

On the death of Bovill in 1873 Coleridge was appointed 
Chief Justice of the Common Pleas, and in 1880 he 
succeeded Cockburn as the first Lord Chief Justice of 
England. 

hi the libel action brought by Mr. Adams, his son-in-law, 
son of Serjeant Adams, against him and his son Bernard, 
the present Lord Coleridge, it was curious to see him enter 
the witness-box and offer himself for examination in his 
own Court. 

By his visit to the United States with Hannen, Bowen, 
and Russell, he easily gained the heart of the American 
public. As a conversationalist Lord Coleridge was un- 
surpassed. 

hi the House of Commons he was a better speaker 
than a debater. On one occasion he had made a graceful 
and impressive speech in favour of Women's Rights, of 
which that humorous hishman, Serjeant Dowse, speedily 
destroyed the effect. " My honourable and learned 
colleague," said he, "seems to think that because some 
judges are old women, all old women are qualified to be 
judges." 

As a judge his only defect was that he did not make 
the most of his high office ; but this was perhaps due to 
loss of physical energy, for when he took the pains, none 
of the qualities essential to a great judge were lacking. 



366 THE INNER AND MIDDLE TEMPLE 

His chambers were at i, Brick Court, which Bowen 
shared with him, the entrance to which is shown in the 
accompanying- sketch in the building to the right. 

But for the loss of his sight, "Handsome Jack" 
Karslake would have risen to the highest office in the 




Passage uetweex Essex Couki and Brick Court. 



profession. As it was, he became Solicitor- and Attorney- 
General and one of the leading advocates of the day. 

He was the one-time rival of John Duke Coleridge. 
Born in the same year, called to the Bar by the Middle 
Temple in the same year, they began to practise together 
at the Devon Sessions and were made Queen's Counsel in 
the same year. In politics they differed, and opposed 
each other in contesting Exeter. 



HISTORICAL SKETCH 367 

His chambers were at 2, Essex Court. 

An amusing story is told of Karslake, who stood six 
feet four in his stockings. Mr. Sam Joyce was as re- 
markably short as Karslake was tall, and when he rose 
to address the Court, Lord Campbell said : — 

" Mr. Joyce, when counsel address the Court it is usual 
for counsel to stand up." 

" My lord," protested Mr. Joyce, " I am standing up." 

A little later Mr. Karslake rose from a bench at the 
back of the Court, which, sloping upwards, gave him 
even greater apparent height. Thereupon Lord Campbell 
remarked : — 

"Mr. Karslake, although it is usual for counsel to 
stand up when they address the Court, it is not necessary 
for them to stand on the benches." 

One result of Bowen's almost superhuman efforts in 
this case, the ramifications of which he had at his finger- 
tips, was his appointment by Sir John Coleridge as 
Attorney-General's devil, a sure stepping-stone to pro- 
fessional advancement. Another result was the sowing- of 
the seeds of ill-health produced by the enormous strain 
of three years' incessant labour in this case. In 1879 he 
was raised to the Queen's Bench, and in 1882 succeeded 
Lord Justice Holker in the Court of Appeal. Here he 
was more in his element. His mind was too subtle for 
the rough and tumble of the Common Law Courts. He 
regarded law not as a collection of mere rules, but as the 
embodiment of the conscience of the nation, to be modified 
to meet the developments in a growing people. Lord 
Bowen died on the loth of April, 1894, a few months 
before his old friend and leader. Lord Coleridge. 

Sir Henry Hawkins, now Lord Brampton, was popularly 
known as "the hanging judge," but this merely repre- 
sented the general feeling that no really guilty person 
ever "got off" before liiin, for he is by nature one of 
the kindest of men. 



368 THE INNER AND MIDDLE TEMPLE 

Serjeant Robinson relates an amusing story of rowing 
down the river from Guildford and coming upon Hawkins 
and Edwin James in a most undignified position. They 
were standing on the middle of the lock gates, the one 
a fat, fussy figure, the colour of a lobster, with nothing 
but his hat on, and the other thin and spare, of a pale 
blue tint, with only a pair of boots in his hand. They 
had just undressed preparatory to a bathe when they 
were attacked by a bull, which proceeded to mutilate 
the clothes they had been unable to save. 

Sir Henry's chambers were at i. Crown Office Row. 

Serjeant Parry had already made his name before the 
Tichborne case, in the trials of Manning in 1849, of 
Miiller in 1864, and in the Overend and Gurney 
prosecution of 1869. His chambers were at 8, King's 
Bench Walk. 

Like his great predecessor Lord Mansfield, Lord Russell 
of Killowen was a member of Lincoln's Inn, and, like him, 
occupied chambers for the greater part of his professional 
life in the Temple. Called in 1859, he was till 1866 at 
5, Pump Court, when he moved to 3, Brick Court, where 
he remained until his migration to 10, New Court, Carey 
Street, in 1885. 

Russell commenced life as a solicitor. He was articled 
to Mr. Cornelius Denvir, of the firm of Hamill and 
Denvir, of Newry, and finished his articles with Mr. 
O'Rourke, at 14, Donegal Street, Belfast. Upon the 
termination of his articles he took two rooms at 73, 
Donegal Street, where he commenced to practise, and 
soon came into public notice for his successful conduct 
of the Cashendall disturbances cases during the years 
1854-6. 

Married to Miss Ellen Mulholland in August, 1858, 
Russell settled in London, and soon got together a 
practice at the Bar, which steadily increased. Going 
the Northern Circuit, the story is told that when dining 




VlliW OK MIDDLE Tli.Ml'l.li !■ KO.M .NKW COURT 



HISTORICAL SKETCH 369 

with Herschell, afterwards Lord Chancellor, and Gully, 
the present Speaker, all three resolved to seek their 
fortunes in the colonies, so disheartening were their 
prospects at the English Bar, This story, though long 
accepted, is not wholly true, as we now know from 
Russell himself, who disclaims any intention of leaving 
this country. "Gully and Herschell," says Russell, 
"were in a desponding mood. They almost despaired 
of success in England, Gully — I think it was Gully — 
proposed going to the Straits Settlements, and Herschell 
to the Indian Bar." 

In Russell's first year his fees amounted to ;^ii'j, in 
his second to ^261, in his third ;^44i, and in his fourth 
;j^i,oi6. In 1870 his income rose to ^4,230, and ulti- 
mately to p^20,000. 

The statement that Russell was in his earlier years a 
reporter in the House of Commons is entirely unfounded, 
Russell wrote regularly for several papers and used to 
resort to the gallery for journalistic purposes. 

Taking silk in 1872, Russell, in spite of such powerful 
opponents as Holker, Benjamin, and Herschell, became 
the head of his circuit, and in town his services were soon 
retained in almost every important case. His great 
speech in the Parnell Commission is regarded as a master- 
piece of eloquence, such as to place him upon a level with 
Erskine and Berryer, 

In the true sense of the term Russell was not an 
orator, but he was a great speaker upon facts. His 
motto was, "Thoughts, thoughts, thoughts," not merely 
"Words, words, words," He truly applied the ancient 
Greek aphorism — 

"Words witliout lliouglit to heaven never fly." 

As he used to say, " The words will come if you have the 
thoughts in you," So keenly did Russell throw himself 
heart and soul into his cases that when a great trial, like 
2 B 



370 THE INNER AND MIDDLE TEMPLE 

the Maybrick case, went against him, his spirit was for 
the moment almost broken. 

For a brief period a Lord of Appeal, on the death of 
Lord Coleridge he succeeded him as Lord Chief Justice of 
England, and of him we may truly say that a greater 
judge never adorned the Bench, His power of getting at 
the truth of the case was phenomenal, and in causes 
celebres, such as the Jameson trial at Bar, where he pre- 
sided with the late Baron Pollock and Hawkins, j., he 
was seen at his best. In dignity, in abstention from all 
vain personal intrusion, in prompt and firm grasp of facts, 
he was at least the equal, some say the superior, of his 
brilliant predecessor Cockburn. 

No one who saw him will forget how he rose to the 
magnitude of the occasion. A weaker man might, by 
acquiescing with the scarcely concealed wish of the 
Government and of the public to shield the defendants, 
have shattered at one blow the independence of the Bench 
and the fair name of England for justice. 

The acknowledged advocate of his time, the master of 
the art of cross-examination, a great judge, he is also 
known on the Continent and in the United States, through 
his services as counsel at the Behring Sea Arbitration, 
and as an arbitrator at the Venezuelan Arbitration, as a 
leading English jurist. 

Russell, too, had a ready wit, and once only have I seen 
him worsted. It was a breach of promise case, before 
Denman, j., just after the Parnell Commission, and 
Kemp, K.c, was his opponent. Russell, producing a 
copy of the Times, proceeded to read some extract in his 
client's favour, when Mr. Kemp interposed with the 
innocent remark, "I suppose. Sir Charles, you do not 
rely upon the accuracy of the Times?'' The effect was 
electrical ; the whole Court, including the judge, laughed 
till it could laugh no more, whilst Russell, throwing his 
brief on the desk, sat down and bore the laughter with 



HISTORICAL SKETCH 371 

every sign of irritation and discomposure. As an instance 
of Russell's ready wit the following may be quoted. Asked 
by a junior what was the penalty for bigamy, the famous 
lawyer promptly replied, "Two mothers-in-law." 

He was, as his friend William Court Gully says, a 
many-sided man, and "had he inherited an income such 
as the exercise of his abilities at the Bar enabled him to 
command, we should never have known his capabilities 
as an advocate or a judge, and his ambition would have 
been to lead a party in the House of Commons and to win 
the Derby ; and so great was his force of character that 
possibly he would have done both." 

Of him Lord Coleridge once said, " He is the biggest 
advocate of the century." But he was even more than 
this. He was a man of exceptional force of character. 
A lover of truth, he hated all that was mean and paltry. 
To a clear head and sound judgment were added a strong 
will, an imperious temper, and an independent spirit, 
which nothing could daunt. Whether he worked or 
whether he played, he did it with all his soul. He 
loathed idleness as he loathed deceit. 

To his imperious temper may be attributed his brusque- 
ness and even rudeness to his clients, and many are the 
stories told of this failing. " Sit down, you old fool," he 
once cried to his client, a venerable, white-haired solicitor, 
the doyen of an assize town, who persisted in interrupting 
him in his conduct of a case. Like most Irishmen, how- 
ever, Russell failed to see the humour of such situations. 
He had no intention of being rude, and never appeared to 
recognise the brusqueness of his language or manner. 
A kinder-hearted man never breathed. \n Russell we 
have prematurely lost not only a great judge but a great 
man. 

Lord Russell, curiously enough, has been succeeded by 
Sir Richard Webster, now Lord Alverstone, like Russell 
himself and Mansfield a member of Lincoln's Inn and an 



372 THE INNER AND MIDDLE TEMPLE 

inmate of the Temple. Lord Alverstone's name still 
appears on the door of 2, Pump Court, ground floor left. 
Like Lord Esher, Sir A. L. Smith, and Sir Joseph Chitty, 
Richard Webster was a great athlete, winning the two 
miles in the Oxford and Cambridge sports of 1865 in 
10 min. 38I sec, beating the Dark Blue representative by 
forty yards. 

It was as an advocate at Doctors' Commons that 
Robert J. Phillimore started on his brilliant career. As 
successor to Dr. Lushington and Lord Stowell, Sir 
Robert Phillimore added to the reputation of his Court 
by his learning and dignity. A master of ecclesiastical 
law, he was equally at home in maritime law, but it is 
as a jurist in international law that his services not only 
to this country, but to the world at large, will be best 
remembered. He was the last judge of the old Admiralty 
Court, the lineal descendant of the Court of the Lord 
High Admiral of England, first held on board ship in 
the reign of Edward L, and more permanently estab- 
lished on the riverside by Edward HL 

Phillimore was elected Treasurer of the Middle Temple 
in 1869. His chambers were in the College at Doctors' 
Commons. 

Called in 1848, James Hannen soon acquired an 
extensive commercial practice, and became known to the 
public through his successful appearance for the claimant 
in the House of Lords in the celebrated Shrewsbury case. 
Raised to the Queen's Bench in 1868, he succeeded Lord 
Penzance as Judge of the old Court of Probate and 
Divorce. He will be best remembered as President of 
the Parnell Commission of Inquiry. His chambers were 
at 2, Essex Court. 

With Hannen and A. L. Smith on the Parnell Com- 
mission sat Sir John Day, who was called in 1849. A 
story is told that when going the Northern Circuit he 
wished to try the effect of the treadmill, and that the warder. 



HISTORICAL SKETCH 373 

either for the humour of the things or for some other 
reason, after setting the machine in motion, affected not 
to hear the learned judge's request to be set free, with 
the result that he had to complete his fifteen minutes' 
turn bathed in perspiration. Day was particularly fond 
of proceeding from one assize town to another on horse- 
back, and in order to have more time for his journeys 
frequently sat late in Court. 

On one occasion, the dinner-hour having passed and 
Mr. Justice Day having shown no signs of rising, a 
member of the Bar wrote the following lines, which 
quickly reached the bench : — 

" Try men by night ! My lord, forbear : 
Think what the wicked world will say ! 
Methinks I hear the rogues declare 
That justice was not done by Day ! " 

The judge's name naturally gave scope to puns of this 
character. In Liverpool he was known as "Judgment 
Day," and now that he has retired he has been re- 
christened "Day of Rest." 

A distinguished member of the Middle, of whom many 
good stories are related, was His Honour Judge Digby 
Seymour, q.c. When at the Bar he was one day con- 
versing in very audible tones in Court, much to the 
annoyance of an Irish barrister, endowed with a rich 
brogue, who was addressing the jury. " Be quiet, Mr. 
Saymour ! " exclaimed the irate Irishman. "My name 
is Seymour, sir," replied that gentleman. "Well, then, 
see more and say less," came the witty retort. 

MASTERS OF THE BENCH 

At the head of the list of the Masters of the Bench 
stands the name of His Majesty King Edward VII. As 
Prince of Wales, on October 31st, 1861, he opened the 
new library — a Gothic building of rather unwieldy pro- 



374 THE INNER AND MIDDLE TEMPLE 

portions — was called to the Bar, and elected a Bencher 
of the Inn. 

After the library had been declared opened, a service 
was held in the church, followed by a magnificent banquet 
in the Hall, at which the Prince gave the toast, to 
a distinguished assembly, of "Domus," amidst great 
applause. 

On more than one public occasion, when Prince of 
Wales, His Majesty appeared in the Inn as a Bencher 
of the Society. 

After the opening of the Royal Courts of Justice by 
Queen Victoria on December 4th, 1882, a brilliant com- 
pany was entertained to luncheon in the Hall. Amongst 
other distinguished guests were the Duke of Cambridge, 
the Duke and Duchess of Teck, and Mr. Gladstone, 
Prime Minister. A marquee, capable of accommodating 
1,100 persons, had been erected in the garden, and here 
the lesser members of the Inn received their relations 
and friends to a similar repast. 

Other distinguished Benchers are the Right Hon. Lord 
Young, one of the judges of the Court of Session, Scot- 
land ; the Right Hon. Lord Brampton, better known as 
Sir Henry Hawkins ; the Right Hon. Lord James of 
Hereford, called in 1852, Postman of the Court of Ex- 
chequer, Solicitor- and Attorney-General under Gladstone, 
who, when the Great Seal was within his grasp, went 
over to the Unionists ; the Right Hon. Baron Lindley, 
called in 1850, now a Lord of Appeal in Ordinary, one of 
our greatest living masters of equity jurisprudence; and 
the Right Hon. Sir R. Henn Collins, called in 1867, the 
new Master of the Rolls, who had an enormous practice 
as a "silk." A man of immense legal attainments, he is 
regarded as one of our leading lawyers. He represented 
Great Britain at the Venezuela and British Guiana Arbi- 
tration of 1897. 

When at the Bar, Hawkins occupied chambers at 



HISTORICAL SKETCH 375 

Crown Office Row; James at i, New Court; Lindley at 
16, Old Square, Lincoln's Inn; whilst the name of Sir 
Richard Henn Collins may still be found on the door- 
post of 4, Brick Court, in company with that of Mr. 
Montag-ue Lush, the well-known advocate and Treasurer 
of Gray's Inn, son of Sir Robert Lush, a Lord Justice 
of Appeal. 

Others who occupy seats on the Bench are Sir Alfred 
Wills, called in 1851 and appointed a judge of the Queen's 
Bench in 1884, Sir John C. Big-ham, called in 1870, and 
Sir Walter G. F. Phillimore, called two years earlier, the 
son of the well-known ecclesiastical and Admiralty judge. 
Sir Robert Phillimore, both raised to the Bench in 1897. 

Amongst the counsel marked out for promotion are 
the present Attorney-General, Sir Robert B. Finlay, and 
J. Fletcher Moulton, K.c. , the leading- authority in patent 
cases and an ardent politician. 

Among^st other names to be mentioned are those of 
Sir Richard Couch, a well-known Indian judge ; Lord 
Coleridge, K.c, eldest son of Lord Chief Justice Coleridg-e, 
who occupies chambers with his fellow-Bencher, Mr. Robert 
Wallace, k.c, m.p., at No. 3, King's Bench Walk; Sir 
Forrest Fulton, k.c, Recorder of the City ; and Sir E. H. 
Carson, K.c, the Solicitor-General. 



CHAPTER XIX 



CONCLUSION 




E' 



VEN these rough 
sketches bear wit- 
ness to the closeness of 
the bond which unites the 
Temple and all its name 
implies with the life of the 
nation. From its heart has 
pulsated the life-blood of 
the people. Here the men 
who built up our constitu- 
tion and the laws under 
which we live and have our 
being, worked and died ; 
.HVR^H^ here those who interpreted 

and administered these laws on the Bench or in the 
Cabinet received their training ; and here, too, toiled those 
who contributed to our pleasure on the stage, or earned a 
bare subsistence in the study, that our recreations might 
be enlarged and our labours lessened. 

As we pace the well-worn pavements by the hoary 
walls and dingy chambers, what memories crowd upon 
memories of the dead past which lives again ! Once 
more in the Round we see the novitiate kneel before the 
patriarch as he casts the veil of purity upon his head, and 
his two sponsors, the mailclad Templar Knights in their 

376 



CONCLUSION 377 

white cloaks stamped with the red cross of the Order, 
stand on either side with upHfted swords. Or we watch 
the procession of new-created Serjeants in their white 
lawn coifs and parti-coloured gowns wending- their way 
from the Temple Hall to make their offering at the shrine 
of St. Thomas of Acre in Cheapside. Anon we see the 
form of Coke hurrying along the narrow passage in Ram 
Alley to Serjeants' Inn, from his chambers in Fuller's 
Rents ; or we stand with Plowden as he superintends the 
building of the great Hall, where Christopher Hatton led 
out the Queen to head the dancers, and Shakespeare saw 
staged his immortal plays. We see Lyttelton with the 
Great Seal, and many another Cavalier, flying to join the 
King at Oxford, whilst a Prideaux and a Whitelocke 
remain behind to carry on the business of the Inns and to 
assist in legalising the Commonwealth. We may follow 
Sawyer, Pollexfen, and Somers to Westminster Hall and 
witness, in the trial of the Seven Bishops, the great 
struggle for civil and religious liberty. The features of 
the terrified Jeffreys, disguised as a coal porter, peeping 
through the dingy windows of a riverside tavern, recall 
to us the Bloody Assize and sweet Alice L'Isle, and the 
pusillanimous James, as with petty spite he casts the 
Great Seal into the Thames. Harcourt Buildings remind 
us of the silver-tongued advocate and Lord Chancellor 
who defended De Foe at the Old Bailey, and at Coke- 
thorpe was the patron and host of Pope and Gay, Prior 
and Swift. 

In the Middle Temple Hall we may see Beau Nash 
making his bow to William of Orange, and declining 
the honour of knighthood. The fall of Macclesfield recalls 
the bursting of the South Sea Bubble and the trial of 
Lord Lovat, with Hardwicke as Lord High Steward and 
Mansfield as prosecuting counsel, the memories of '45. 
With the names of Burke, Sheridan, and Edward Law 
are associated the famous trial of Warren Hastings and 



378 THE INNER AND MIDDLE TEMPLE 

the comedy of The School for Scandal. Eldon, the great 
Lord Chancellor, reminds us of the Gordon rioters, and 
of all the leading political events of the early part of the 
nineteenth century. From a window in Crown Office 
Row we may with Lamb once more look down upon the 
old Benchers as they gravely pace the terrace below, and 
in Lamb Building we may visit the chambers tenanted by 
Thackeray's immortal creations. Brick Court is once 
more peopled by that famous group of whom the leaders 
were Goldsmith, Fielding-, and Reynolds, which a century 
later is replaced by a group of men equally distinguished 
in another direction, led by Coleridge, Bowen, and Russell. 

By such memories as these the dullest must be stirred, 
the idlest and most frivolous must be stimulated to emulate 
the actions of those great men. 

As Judge Willis truly says, " Every man who means to 
live well in the present must know the past, and every 
great man has sought to inspire men by unrolling the 
names of the illustrious dead." 

This thought cannot be more beautifully expressed than 
by Longfellow's lines in his Psalm of Life : — 

" Lives of great men all remind us 
We can make our own sublime, 
And departing- leave behind us 

Footprints in the sands of Time." 

Surrounded by such associations — legal, literary, and 
historic — saturated in these time-honoured traditions, no 
one can be a member of either of these two Honourable 
Societies without becoming a fuller and a better man. 

To us a great trust has been handed down. For us a 
roll of names, stretching through the centuries, has been 
unfolded — names imperishable in law, in literature, in 
history — names cherished by the whole English-speaking 
race throug-hout the world. Shall we then be unfaithful 
to this trust? Shall we not rather, inspired by such 



CONCLUSION 379 

recollections, be the more zealous in upholding the honour 
of our House and in maintaining the honourable traditions 
of our profession ? We cannot all achieve fame, but even 
the least distinguished amongst us can so direct his course 
that though through him no glory shall accrue, yet through 
him at any rate no stain is cast upon the honour of his 
House. 



FINIS 



\ 



BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Addison (C. G.). "The Knights Templars." 2nd ed. illus. 8vo. 
Lond. 1842. 

" The Temple Church." Illus. Svo. Lond. 1843. 

"The History of the Knights Templars, the Temple Church, 

and the Temple." Illus. Sm. 4to. Lond. 1842. 2nd ed. Svo, 
1842 ; 3rd ed. Svo, 1852. 

Adler (M. N.). " The Temple at Jerusalem." Svo, pp. 18. Lond. 1887. 
Ainger (Rev. Canon). "The Temple, London." A series of twelve 

original etchings by Percy Thomas, r.p.e., with descriptive 

letterpress by the Master of the Temple (Rev. Canon Ainger). 

Folio. Bristol, 1898. 
Andrews (William). "Legal Lore: Curiosities of Law and Lawyers." 

Svo. Lond. 1897. 
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382 THE INNER AND MIDDLE TEMPLE 

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2 C 



386 THE INNER AND MIDDLE TEMPLE 

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Church." 8vo. Loud. n.d. 

Surtees (William Edward). " A Sketch of the Lives of Lorils Stowell 
and Eldon." Comprising-, with additional matter, some cor- 
rections of Mr. Twiss's work on the Chancellor. 8vo. Lond. 
1846. 

Taafe (John). "History of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem or 
Kniy^hts IIos])itaIlers, Knii^-hts Templars, Knights of Rhodes, 
and Knights of Malta." 4 vols. 8vo. Lond. 1852. 

Templars (Knights). "Bulla Lucii Papje Magislro Religiosae 
Militia; Templi Quod Jerosilimis scitum est ejusque fratribus. 
Of their pnviledges and other Grants touching; their priviledges." 
[Petyt MSS. No. 538, vol. xxviii.] 

"Temple, Courts of Law at." Laiv Mag. vol. xxxv. p. 34. 
Temple Bar. See Wilson (J. H.). 

"The History of." 8vo. Lond. 1877. 

"and London Law Courts" (Josiah H. Bissell). Chic. L. N, 

vol. XV. p. 62. 

Temple Church. "Consecration of the Temple Church. Sermons 
preached at the celebration of its seven hundredth anniversary 
[1885] by the Archbishop of Canterbury [Kt. Hon. and Most 
Rev. E. W. Benson), the Reader at the Temple [Rev. Alfred 
Ainger], and the Master of the Temple [Rev. C. J. Vaughan]." 
8vo. Lond. 1885. 

Temple, The. "The Templars and the Temple Church." Law 
Mug. and Rev. vol. viii. p. 205; Laxv Times, vol. i. pp. 41, 68, 
129, 199. 

"Temple Church, London.'' Can. L.J. vol. xxi. p. 69; Alh. L. J. 
vol. x.\x. p. 244. 

"Its Recent History and last Restoration." Law Mag. and 

Kev. (N.S.), vol. i. p. 395. 

"Notes on." Law Mag. and A'ct. (iN'.S.), vol. i. p. Ooi. 

"Seven lluiulretlth Anniversary of." I^iinip Com/, \ol. ii. 

p. 130. 

"and the Monuments, Facts and Observations relating to the. ' 

4to. Lond. 1811. 

" Temple of Romance, Twice Rescued." Pump Court, vol. iii. p. 31. 
"The Temple Fountain." London .Society, October lunnber, 1879. 
"Temples in General, Of the." Tetyt MSS. No. 538, vol. xvii. 
p. 400. 

Thomas (Percy). " The Temple, London." See .\in_ger. 

Thornbury (Walter). " Old and New London." 410. Lond. n.d. 

Thorpe (W. (i.). " The Still Life of the Middle Temple, with some of 
its Table Talk." 8vo. Lond. 1892. 

" Middle Temple Table Talk, with some Talk about the Table 

itself." Svo. Lonil. 1894. 



392 THE INNER AND MIDDLE TEMPLE 

Townsend (W. C). "The Lives of Twelve Eminent Judges of the 
Last and Present Century." 2 vols. 8vo. Lond. 1846. 

Twiss (Robert). "The Public and Private Life of Lord Chancellor 
Eldon, with Selections from his Correspondence." 2nd ed. 
3 vols. Svo. Lond. 1844. 

Welsby (W. N.). "Lives of Eminent English Judges of the Seven- 
teenth and Eighteenth Centuries." 8vo. Lond. 1846. 

Whitelocke (Bulstrode). "Memorials of English Affairs." Fol. 
Lond. 1682. 

Willcocks (W. K.). "Devonshire Men at the Inner Temple, 1547- 

1660." [Trans, of Devonshire Assoc, for the Advancement of 

Science, etc. 1885. Vol. xvii. pp. 246 65.] 
Williams (Montagu). "Leaves of a Life." 2 vols. 8vo. Lond. 

1890. 

" Later Leaves." 8vo. Ibid. 1S91. 

Willis (William). "The Society and Fellowship of the Inner Temple." 

An address delivered in the Inner Temple Hall, Monday, 

May 24th, 1897. 4to. Lond. 1897. 
Willock (John). "Legal Facetiae: Satirical and Humorous." 8vo. 

Lond. 1887. 
Wilson (James Holbert). "Temple Bar, the City Golgotha." A 

narrative of the historical occurrences of a criminal character 

associated with the present Bar. By a member of the Inner 

Temple. 410. Lond. 1853. [Sec A\ and Q. April, 1870, p. 359.] 
Woolrych (H. W. ). "Memoirs of the Life of Judge Jeffreys, Lord 

High Chancellor of England." 8vo. Lond. 1827. 
Yarker ( — ). " Notes on the Orders of the Temple and St. John." 

Manchester, 1869. 



INDEX 



ABBREVIATIONS 



G.I. = Gray's Inn. 
H.C. = House of Commons. 
I.T. = Inner Temple. 
l-.C = Lord Chancellor. 
L.C.I). = Lord Chief Baron. 
L.C.J. = Lord Chief Justice. 
L.I. = Lincoln's Inn. 



L.J. = Lord Justice. 

M.R. = Master of the Rolls. 

M.T. =Middle Temple. 

T.G.I. =Treasurer Gray's Inn. 

T.I.T.= „ Inner Temple. 

T.L.I = „ Lincoln's Inn. 

T.M.T.^ „ Middle Temple. 



Abbotl, Charles, Baron Tenterden 

of Ik-mloii, 159, 161 
Ahinger, Baron. See Scarlett 
Adams, Serjeant, 161, 365 
Adams, ~, 365 

Addison, Joseph, 255, 274, 332 
Adelniare, Caesar, 51 
Agnus Dei, 28 
Alabama Award, 362 
Albert Edward, Prince of Wales. 

Sec Edward VII. 
Alderson, Edward Hall, Baron, 69, 

308 
Alfred, King, 41 
Alienation Office, 54, 57, 58, 85, 

'43 
Allybone, Sir Richard, 145-6, 150 
Alsatia, 203 
Alsatians, 203-5 
Altar in Temple Church, 225 
Alvanley, Lord. Sec Arden 
Alverstone, Lord. See Webster 
Alvey, Dr., 220, 221 
Anderson, Sir Edmund, i,.c.j., 99, 

128-9, 289 
Anne, Queen, wife of Henry VIII., 

95 
Anne, Queen, 46, 114 15, 140, 152, 

155- 235, 261, 263-6, 283, 331-2 
Anson, Sir William Reynell, 28 1 



Anteroom to Parliament Chamber, 

LT.,49 
Anticjuaries, Society of, 114 
Apollo Club, 274 
Aj)])rentices of the law, 21 
Apprent kilts ad Barros, 38 
Appieiiticii ad Ici^cvt, 2, 24, 39 
Appsciilicii de banco, 232 
Appreiitiiii uobi/iores, 39, 232 
Arden, Richard Pepj^er, Lord Al- 
vanley, 283, 346-7, 349 
Armada, The great, 129 
Arne, Dr., 278 
Arnold, Col., 262 
Arnold, King's Brewer, 150 
Arrest of Five Members, 260, 

328 
Arundel, Earl of, 137 
Arundel Stairs, 322 
Ashburton, Lord. See Dunning 
Asliby V. White, 152 
Ashley, Sir Robert, 291, 292 
Ashmole, Elias (1617-92), 322-3 
Aske, Richard, 138 
As(iuith, Right Hon. II. IL, 67 
Assassins, (Jrder of, 207-S 
Atkins, Samuel, 104 
Atkynstm, William, 55 
Attorneys, 126, 233, 235, 281 
Audele, Thomas, 52 



393 



394 THE INNER AND MIDDLE TEMPLE 



Audley, Thomas, Speaker H.C., 

L.C., 48, 125 
Aumbry, 216 
Austin, John, 160 
Aylesford, Earl of. See Finch 
Ayloff, John, 144 
Ayrton, William, 75 

Babington's Rents, 48, 50 
Bacheler, Brother Walter le, Grand 

Preceptor of Ireland, 217 
Bacon, Sir Francis, 132, 185, 245, 

336 
Bacon, Sir Nicholas, 34, 313 
Baker, Sir John, t.i.t., 116, 125, 

220 
Baker, Robert, T.I.T., 88 
Ball, Dr. Richard, 231 
Ballantine, Serjeant William, 50, 

108, 364 
Banks, John, 87, 88, 249 
Bankside, The, 185 
Banquets, I.T. , 42, 45, 307 

— M.T., 290, 315, 374 
Bar, English, 38, 59, 67 

— Call to the, 36 

— French, 59 

— Outer, 36 
Barbon, Dr., 296, 301 
Barbon's Buildings, 296-7 
Barnard's (Bernard's) Inn, 49, 242-6 
Barnes, Sir J. Gorell, 164 
Barriers, or sham tournament, 130 
Barrington, Hon. Daines, T. I.T., 

27, 71. 76-7, 103, I59> 218, 346 
Barristers, 2, 3, 38-9 

— imprisoned in the Fleet, 36 
Barton, J. B., 78 

Barton, Thomas, Bencher i.T. , 78 

Bates, Thomas, 130 

Baxter, Richard, 223 

Baylis, T. Henry, t.i.t., 14, 27, 

164, 212, 230 
Beauclerk, Topham, 108 
Beaumont, Francis, dramatist, 53, 

185, 196, 274 
Beaumont, John, M.R. , 125 
Beaumont, Sir Francis, 53, 120 
Beauseant,Le,Beauceant,Bauceant, 

27, 216 
Becket, Thomas a, 6, 31, 168 



Bedloe, William, 104 

Behn, Mrs. Aphra, 203 

Bells, Temple Church, 224, 225 

Belwood, Roger, 105 

Bench, Independence of the, 337 

— Masters of the, i.T., 36, 37, 
38, 48, 54, 55, 163-S 

— Masters of the, M.T., 373-5 

— Table, 38 

Benchers' Garden, privy garden or 

little garden, i.T., 58, 170 
M.T., 293 

— Walk, or the Great Walk, 248 
Benjamin, Judah Philip, 306-7, 

369 
Bennett, John, Sergeant-at-Arms, 

III, 113 
Benson, Christopher, Master of the 

Temple, 47 
Bentham, Jeremy, 160 
Bere, Sir George, 242 
Berengar's seal, 21, 228 
Berkeley, Robert, 317-18 
Bernard, Lionel, 243 
Berryer, Maitre, 362 
Best, William Draper, 350 
Bethell, Richard, Lord Westbury, 

L.C., 285, 291, 360, 362-3 
Bickerstaff, Isaac, 274, 278 
Bicknell, James, 306 
Bicknell, Sabrina, 306 
Bigham, Sir John, 303, 375 
Bird's Eye View, 1671, 85 

1755,85 

Bishops, Impeachment of, 138 
Black Books, L.i., 122, 179, 185, 
265, 313-14 

— Boy, The, 235-6, 251 

— Buildings, 57 
— • Cap, The, 167 

Blackburn, Colin, Lord of Appeal, 

64 
Blackstone, Sir Wdliam, 219, 228, 

277, 278, 280, 281, 300, 352 
Blagrave, Daniel, regicide, 139 
Blake, Thomas, 83 
Bloody Assize, The, 102, 103, 148, 

225, 377 
Bloomsbury and Inns of Court 

Association, 262 
Blount, Sir Walter, 137 



INDEX 



395 



Blount, Thomas, 137 

Boleyn, Anne, 125 

Bosanquet, Fred. All^crt, Common 

Serjeant, 165 
Boswell, James, 105, 107, 108. 308 
Bourchier, Henry, 57 
Bourchicr, Robert, 258 
Bovill, Sir William, t.m.t. , 45, 

360-1, 363, 365 
Bowen, Charles Synge Christopher, 

I..J., 281, 364-7, 378 
Bowes, Sir Robert, m.k., 116 
Bracegirille, Mrs., 331, 334 
Bradbury, George, 327 
Bradford, John, 126 
Bradshaw, Henry, T. i.r., 48, 51 
Bradshaw's Rents, 48, 50, 51 
Brampton, Lord. See Hawkins 
Bramston, John, 317-18 
Bramwell, George W., Baron, 83 
Brandon, Charles, Duke of Suffolk, 

125 

Brawl in the Temple Gardens, 121, 

122 
Brawls, The, 194 

M.T., 182 

Brewery, Inner Temple, 44, 100 
Brick Buildings. See Brick Court 
— Court, 80, 82, 161, 270, 276-81, 

293. 302, 308, 348, 358, 366, 

368, 375. 378 
Bridgman, Sir Orlando, Lcjrd 

Keeper, 84, 140, 296 
Broke, Sir Robert, 314-15 
Bromley, Edward, Baron, 269 
Bromley, Sir Thomas, L.C., 54, 

218, 312 
Brooke, David, r. i.r. , 51 
Brougham, Lord, l..c., 64, 160, 

29'. 351. 362 
Browne, William, 137, 186 
Browning, Robert, 200 
Brownrigg, Dr. Ralph, 223 
Bruce, Rol)ert, 258 
Bruyere, La, 271 
Buc, Sir George, 22 
Buckluirst, Lord. See Sackville 
Buckingham, Duke of, 67, 132, 

142, '317 
Buckley (Bulkeley), Master William, 
120 



Bucknill, Sir Thomas T. , 64, 164 
Bulstrode, Edward, 89 
Burljage, Richard, actor, 185, 196 
Burgh, Hubert de. Earl of Kent, 

12, 257 
Burke, Edmund, 108, 115, 304, 

349, 354> 377 
Burke, Father, 364 
Burleigh, Lord. See William Cecil 
Burney, Martin, 75 
Burton, Humphrey, 126 
Butler, Samuel, 223 
Buttery, The, i.T., 43-4, 117 
Byles, John Barnard, 82, 83, 308 
Byron, Lord, 156 
Byron, Lord, the poet, 69 
Byron, William, Lord, 344 

C?esar's Buildings, 51, 144, 304 
Ctesar, Sir Julius, Master of the 

Rolls, 51 
Chaucer, Geoffrey, 119, 120, 121 
Cairns, Lord, 45 

Cambridge, Duke of, 230, 291, 374 
Camden, Lord. See Pratt 
Campbell, John, L.C. , 50, 64, 70, 

173, 262, 303, 329, 356, 361-2, 

367 

Canning, George, 60, 69 

Canterljury, Archbishop of, Robert 
Winchelsey, 17 ; George Abbott, 
138 ; Gilbert Sheldon, 335 

Carew, John, regicide, 139 

Carew, Sir Randolph, 47 

Carleton, Sir Dudley, 131 

Caroline, Princess, 346 

Caroline, Queen Consort of George 

n., 46 

Caroline, Queen Consort of George 

IV., 68, 161, 349 
Carr, Sir Robert. See Earl of 

Somerset 
Carson, Sir E. II., Sol. -Gen., 109, 

375 . 
Catherine of Aragon, Queen, 124-5 

Cato Street Conspirators, 349 

Cawley, William, regicide, 139 

Cecil, Sir Robert, Earl of Salisbury, 

286, 288-9 
Cecil, Lord Robert, Marcpiis of 

Salisbury, 69 



396 THE INNER AND MIDDLE TEMPLE 



Cecil, Lord Robert, K.c. , 69 
Cecil, William, Lord Burleigh, 99, 

24s, 288 
Challoner, Thomas, regicide, 139 
Chamberlain, John, 131 
Chancery Lane, 7, 8, 11, 26, 97, 
112. 114, 156, 172-3, 186, 211, 
228, 261, 316, 329, 335 
Chancery suit between Inner and 

Middle Temple, 91 
Channell, Sir A. M., 161, 164 
Channel], Sir William Fry, 50, 161 
Chapman, George, 316 
Chapman, Sir John, Lord Mayor, 103 
Charles L, 35, 90, 91, in, 113, 
131-5. 138-9, 173, 181-3, 187, 
190-1, 222-3, 259, 260, 265, 283, 
291-2, 29S, 317-18, 321, 326-7, 
336, 377 
Charles II., 25, 57, 98, 136-43, 
172, 196-7, 240, 255, 265, 272, 
283, 319, 320, 322, 324, 328-32, 
336 
Charter or patent of James I., 215, 

203, 221 
Charter, The Great, 10, 31 
Chartist Trials, 359 
Chatham, Lord. See William Pitt 
Chauncy, Sir Henry, T. M.T. 
Chelmsford, Lord. See Thesiger 
Chester's Inn. See Strand Inn 
Chief Butler i.t., 50, 120 
Child, Sir Francis, 204, 272-3 
Child's Bank, 266, 272-3 
Child's Place, 272-3, 306 
Chitty, Joseph, special pleader, 69, 

83, 308, 358 
Chitty, Sir Joseph, L.j., 262, 372 
Choir, Temple Church, 10, 207, 

215-17, 222 
Christian VII., King of Denmark, 

345-6 
Church of the Holy Resurrection, 

Jerusalem, 206 
Churchill, Hon. George, 261 
Church porch, The, 109 
Churchyard, The, 109-1 r, 201-2 
— Court, 109, no, 303 

South, no, 139 

Chute, Chaloner, T. M.T., Speaker 
H.c. . 326, 328 



Gibber, Colley, 61, 274, 334 
City Imperial Volunteers, 263 
City of London Court, 164 
Civil War, The, n3, 129, 260, 322, 

334 
Clarendon, Constitutions of, 6 
Clarendon, Earl of. See Hyde 
Clarendon, second Earl of, 329 
Clarendon, Lady, 322 
Clarke, Sir Edward, 262 
Clarke, Thomas, M.R. , 343 
Clarkson, Edward, 207-8, 210, 213 
Clement V., Pope, 13-16 
Clement's Inn, 3, 233-4, 23S-40, 

251, 322 
Clement's Lane, 235 
Clerkenwell, St. John's Priory, 169 
Cleveland, Duchess of, 142 
Clifford's Inn, 3, 56, 134, 173, 233, 

234, 235, 237-8, 244 
Clifford, Lady Isabel, 232 
Cloister Court, 50, 51, 304 
Cloisters, The, 43, 48, 50-1, 214, 

220, 302-3, 324-6 
Cobham, Eleanor, Duchess of 

Gloucester, 254 
Cock, William, 261 
Cockburn, Sir Alexander, l.c.j., 

361-2, 364 
Cockpit Players, The, 196 
Coffey, Charles, dramatist, 157 
Coif, The, 167 

Brothers of, 166 

Order of, JT, 145, 166-73, 377 

Coke, Sir Edward, 24, 35, 47, 54-6, 

84, 130, 132, 152, 169-70, 173, 

218, 289, 308, 317, 377 
Coleridge, Bernard, Lord, K.C, 

365. 375 
Coleridge, John Duke, Lord, 262, 

281, 360, 363-7, 370-1, 375, 378 
Coleridge, Samuel Taylor, 76, 235 
Collar of "SS," 123 
Colledge, Stephen, 329 
Collins, Sir Richard Ilenn, U.K., 

374-5 
Colman, George, the elder, 78 
Colman, George, the younger, 78 
Comedy of Errors, 181, 286 
Common Law, conflict with Civil 

Law and Canon Law, 29-36 



INDEX 



397 



Common Pleas, Offices of, lOO 
Comnionwealth, The, 135, 138-9, 
223-4, 249, 272, 319, 321, 336, 

377 
Comiinmion Plate, Tlie, 230 
Condell, Henry, 196 
Congreve, William, 157, 334 
Coningsljy, Humphrey, 123, 172 
Constable, Sir William, regicide, 

139 
Conway, General, 137, 349 
Cook, Captain, 75 
Cooke, George, 199 
Cooke, John, Sol. -Gen., 138 
Cooper, Anthony Ashley, Earl of 

Shaftesbury, L.C., 336 
Cope, Sir Walter, 297 
Corn Law Riots, 351 
— Laws, The, 82, 357 
Corridor, m.t., 315 
Cottington, Francis, Lord, 136 
Cotton, Lord Justice, 262 
Cotton MSS., 291 
Couch, Sir Richard, 375 
Council Chaml)er of Duchy of Corn- 
wall, 112, 113 
Court of Wards and Liveries, 98- 

100, 136, 287 
Courtney, Nicholas, T. i.t. , 227 
Coventrees Inn, 23S 
Coventry, Sir Thomas, Lord Keeper, 

78, 84, 90, I T,2, 222, 245, 254 
Coventry, Thomas, Kencher i.t., 

7', 78 
Coverley, Sir Roger de, 251, 255, 

308 
Cowper, Major, 95 
Cowper, Spencer, 338 
Cowper, Theodora, 95 
Cowper, William, L.C., 283-5,338-9 
Cowj-H-'r, William, poet, 91, 94-5, 

100, 246, 300 
Cowper, William, M.P., 345 
Cox, Dr., Bishop of London, 194-5 
Cox, Serjeant, 173 
Cozens- 1 lardy, Lor<l Justice, 164 
Craddock, Miss, 353 
Cranmer, Archbishop, 193 
Cranwortli, Lord Chancellor, 82 
Craven, Earl of, 100 
Cressingham, Hugh dc, 257 



Cresswell, Sir Cresswell, 82 

Croke, Charles, 320 

Croke, Sir George, T. i.t., 89, 90, 

230, 320 
Croke, Lady George, 90 
Croke, Henry, 89 
Croke, Sir John, 89, 90, 130, 134 
Croke, John, son of Sir John, 134 
Croke, Serjeant Unton, 134 
Croke, Unton, son of Serjeant 

Unton, 134, 321 
Croker, John Wilson, 361 
Crompton, Serjeant Charles, 50 
Cromwell, Elizabeth, 134 
Cromwell, Oliver, 35, 134-6, 260, 

265, 286, 318, 320-1, 326, 330, 

333 
Cromwell, Richard, 326, 32S-9, 339 
Cromwell, Sir Henry, 134 
Cromwell, Sir Oliver, 286 
Crown Office, The, 83, 84, 249 
Row, 71-87, 160, 250, 368, 

375. 378 
Cudworth, Ralph, 140 

Danby, Dick, wigmaker, 303 

Danby, Robert, C.J., 172' 

Dangerfield's narrative, 147 

Darling, Sir C. J., 164 

Davies, Sir John, 314 

Davis, President, 306 

Davison, Sir Henry, 66 

Davison, William, 128 

Day, Sir John, 162, 164, 372-3 

Day, Thomas, 305-6 

Deane, Bargrave, 61 

Deane, Sir James Parker, 61 

Declaration of Indulgence, 150 

Dedication of Temple Church, 185-6 

— Inscription of, 226 

De Foe, Daniel, 152, 265-6, 377 

Denbigh, Earl of, 136 

Denman, Lord, L.C.J. , 173 

Denman, Hon. George, 370 

Derby, P2arl of, 45, 64 

Despencer, Hugh le, 20 

Devereux, Robert. See Earl of 

Essex 
Devereux Court, 20, 270, 274 
Devil's Own, The ; or, 141I1 

Middlesex, 257-263 



398 THE INNER AND MIDDLE TEMPLE 



Devil's Tavern, The, 273-4 

Dick's Coffee House, 100 

Dickens, Charles, 65, 165, 241, 
245, 273, 275, 356 

Dickens, Henry Fielding, 165 

Digby, Sir Everard, 130 

Disraeli, Benjamin, Earl of Beacons- 
field, 45, 66, 163, 357 

Doctors' Commons, 352, 372 

Dolben, Sir William, t. i.t. , 104 

Dorset, Earl of, 192-3 

Downes, John, regicide, 139 

Dowse, Serjeant, 365 

Drake, Sir Francis, 282, 28^, 2S8, 

315 
Drake, John, 315 
Drama, The, 190-200 
Drogheda, Countess of, 142 
Drury Lane Theatre, 331, 334 
Dryden, John, 197, 204 
Dudley, Robert, Earl of Leicester, 

19, 27, 54, 175, 236, 239, 295 
Dudley, Sir Robert, 295 
Dufferin, Lady. See Sheridan 
Dufferin, Lord, 357 
Dugdale, Elizabeth, 323 
Dugdale, Sir William, 22, 46, iii, 

137, I75> 177-8, 242, 313, 323 
Duncumbe, Mrs., 52 
Dunning, John, Lord Ashburton, 

283, 345, 348-9 
Dupont's Buildings, 141 
Dyer, George, 75, 235 
Dyer, Sir James, 313, 315 
Dyer, Sir Thomas, 128 
Dyot, Anthony, 1 71 
Dyott, Major Anthony, 137 
Dyotts' Chambers, The, 90, 137 

Eady, Sir Charles Swinfen, 164 
Edward L, 12, 32, 33, 41, 232, 

257, 372 
Edward H., 13-16, 19-20, 258, 295 
Edward HI., 20, 23, 40-1, 219, 

232, 253, 283, 372 
Edward the Black Prince, 18 
Edward IV., 122-3 
Edward VI., 33, 51, 96, 126, 240, 

312 
Edward VII,, 283, 291, 373-4 
Effigies, 210 13, 227 



Effigies, cross-legged, 213 

Egerton, Thomas, l.c, 259, 311 

Egerlon Papers, 259 

Eldon, Lord. See Scott 

Eleanor, Queen, 10, 215 

Eliot, Sir John, 140, 328 

Elizabeth, Queen, 51, 54, 89, 98-9, 
137-8, 184, 220, 230, 242, 254, 
265, 270, 272, 276-7, 283-4, 
29s, 310-11, 313, 315-16, 336, 

377 
Ellenliorough, Lady, 68 
Ellenborough, Lord. See Edward 

Law 
Ellerkos, John, Serjeant, 170 
Ellesmere, Earl of, 259 
Elm Court, 21, 24, 100, 149, 268, 

278, 280, 299, 322, 324, 328, 358 

— — Door, 91 

Ely, Bishop of, 53, 105, no, 172 
Ely Place, 123-4, 169, 185-6, 188, 

194-5 
Erie, Sir William, 360, 363 
Ermsted, Rev. William, 220 
Erskine, Lord, L.c, 261-2,349, 351 
Esher, Lord, 372 
Essex, Robert Devereux, Earl of, 

20, 89, 129, 193, 289, 290, 295-6, 

311-12 
Essex, Robert Devereux, Earl of, 

Parliamentary general, son of 

Robert Devereux, 136, 137, 296 
Essex Court, 20, 278, 293, 295, 

296, 301-2, 360-1, 367, 372 

— House, 20, 53, 295-6 
Stairs, 248, 255 

— Street, 7, 20, 248, 274, 295 
Evelyn, John, 254-5, 265, 301, 

321-4, 330, 335 
Evelyn, John, son of John, 324 
Everden, Silvester de. Bishop of 

Carlisle, 216 
Ewes, Sir Simonds d', 321 
Exeter Inn, 19, 295 

Fairfax, Sir Thomas, 326 
Falcon Court, 202 
Faringdon House, 135 
Farrar's Building, 53, 105, no, 161 
Faryndon Inn or Serjeants' Inn, 
Chancery Lane, 168, 172 



INDEX 



399 



Fauconbridge, Lady, 197 

Ferrers, Earl of, 156 

Fetter Lane, 234, 243, 244, 246 

Fickctt's Field, 7, 253 

Field, Barron, 76 

Field, William, 50 

Fielding, Basil, Lord, 136 

Fielding, Henry, 300, 353, 378 

Fielding, William, Earl of Denbigh, 

353 

Fig Tree Court, 80, 81, 83, S9-95, 
144, 298 

Finch, Serjeant Heneage, Speaker 
n.c, 140 

Finch, Heneage, Earl of Notting- 
ham, I..C., 140-1, 302, 325, 364 

Finch, Heneage, Earl of Aylesford, 
141 

Finch, Sir John, Speaker H.c. , 
140, 318, 322, 328 

Fine Oflice, 222 

Court, 97 

Finlay, Sir Robert B., Attorney- 
General, 375 

Fire, Great, of 1666, 58, 59, iii, 
143-4, 171, 224, 231, 234, 270, 

304 

— of 1677, 59, 144, 224 

— of 1678, 100, 224, 299, 302, 

324-5, 337 

— of 1683, 60 

— of 1704, 279 

— of 1736, 158 

— of 1838, 70 

Fisher, Thomas, Bishop of London, 

.125, 312 
Fitzgerald, Richard, 257 
Fitzherbert, Sir Anthony, 315 
FitzStephen, Geoffrey, Master of 

the Temple, 10 
Fitz-William, William, 124-5 
Fleet Prison, 36, 142, 315 

— River, 8 

— Street, 7, 8, 26, 52, no, 113, 
201, 204-5, 220, 232, 234, 244, 
269, 274, 288, 351 

No. 2, 273-4 

No. 15, 115 

No. 16, 115 

No. 17, IU-15 

Fleetwood, Serjeant William, 315 



Fleming, Sir Thomas, 130 

Fleta (supposed to have been written 

in the Fleet by one of the corrupt 

judges imprisoned by Edward L), 

288 
Fletcher, John, playwright, 185, 

196, 274 
Follett, Sir W. W., 44, 64, 356 
Font, The, 213 
Ford, John, dramatist, 312 
Fortescue, Sir John, 26, 232-3, 258 
Foster, Robert, 141 
Fountain Court, 274-6, 285, 290, 

293, 295, 307 

— Tavern, The, 113, 114 

Fox, Charles James, 69, 349, 354 
Franklin, Benjamin, 158 
Frederick, Prince of Wales, 199, 

285 
Freemasonry, 207-10 
French Revolution, 261 
Friars' Wall, 58, 171, 247 
Frost Fair, The Great, 254-5 
Fulham Road Plot, 338 
Fuller, John, T.I.T., 54, 175 
Fuller's Rents, 53, 54, 55, 56, 132, 

141, 143, 169 
Fulton, Sir Forrest, Recorder of 

London, 375 
l'"urnival. Sir William, 240 
Furnival's Inn, 240, 241, 244 

Garden Court, 277, 292, 293, 296 
Gardens, The Temple, 121-2, 247- 

Gardiner, Bishop, 97 
Garnet, Henry, 130, 312 
Garth, Sir Samuel, 104, 274, 332 
Gate-house, Lincoln's Inn, 99 

— M.T. ; or. The Great Gate, 
269-70 

Gay, John, 152, 296, 377 

Gauden, Dr. John, 224 

Gaudy, Mary, 218 

George I., 113, 141, 152, 154, 155, 

205, 261, 270, 339 
George II., 46, 57, 100, 155, 157, 

261 
George III., 94, 156, 159, 261, 

285, 323, 344, 346, 351 
George IV., 77-8, 323, 350 



400 THE INNER AND MIDDLE TEMPLE 



Geoffrey of Constance, 257 
Gerrard, Edward, 238 
Gil)l)ons, Grinling, 49, 225, 323 
Giffard, Hardinge Stanley, Earl of 

Ilalsbury, L.c, 46, 87, 163 
Giftbrd, Robert, M.R., 349-50 
Gillingham, Roger, r. m.t., 227 
Gladstone, W. E., 45, 83, 362, 

364, 374 
Globe Company, Bankside, 288 
— Theatre, Bankside, 185-6, 196 

Wych Street, 236 

Glover, Edward Auchmuty, 360 
Glynne, Serjeant, 135, 348 
Godwin, William, 75 
Gold cup presented to James I., 25 
Golden Hind, The, 282, 315 
Golden Salmon, The, 114 
Goldsmith Building, 52, 109, 155, 

Goldsmith, Oliver, 82, 108, 218, 

276-80, 292-3, 308, 378 
Gordon, Lord George, 349 
Gordon, Lady Duff, 160 
Gordon Riots, 158, 245-6, 350, 377 
Gorge, Sir Arthur, 297 
Gorges, Sir Fernando, 311 
Goring, Colonel, 322 
Goulburn, Serjeant, 161 
Gould, Sir Henry, 353 
Gower, John, 119, 120 
Grafton, Duke of, 93, 345 
Grant, John, 130 
Grant, Sir William, m.r., 261-2 
Grantham, Sir William, 164, 200, 

262-3 
Grantley, Lord, 355-6 
Gray, Lord Edmund, of Wilton, 

241 
Gray, Thomas, 194 
Gray's Inn, 63, 134, 140, 145, 168, 

iSi, 185, 187, 190-1, 241-6, 

250, 270, 278, 282, 314, 375 

Fields, 26 

Gardens, 250 

Road, 242 

Great Gate, Inner Temple Gardens, 

250 
Grey, Earl, 45 

Grey, Lady Jane, 51, 312, 313 
Grey, Sir Thomas, 172 



Grey, William de. Lord Walsing- 

ham, 345 
Griflin, The, 267 
(juernsey, Baron. See Finch 
Guilford, Lord Keeper. See Francis 

North 
Guildhall, The, 130, 156, 234. 
Guilds, 2, 25, 32, 34, 37, 39 
Gully, Sir William Court, Speaker 

H.c, 46, 163, 369, 371 
Gunpowder Plot, 129, 312, 316 
Gwynne, Nell, 197, 273 

Hakewill, Henry, 298 

Hale, Sir Matthew, 32, 47, 67, 

173. 234-5. 280, 286 
Halford, Sir Henry, 353 
Hall Chambers, 44 

— Court, 293, 301 

— Dining in, 39, 79, 80, 284 

— of the Master of the Temple, 
or Priests' Hall, 43 

— Stairs, Chambers under, 44 
Hallam, Henry, historian, 159 
Hallam, Henry, son of Henry, 159 
Halsbury, Earl of. See Giffard 
Halys, Edward, 52 

Hamilton, Duke of, 331 

Hampden, Anne, 136 

Hampden, John, 35, 67, 90, 132-4, 

153. 261 
Hampden, William, 134 
Hampson's Buildings, 59 
Hanmer, Sir Thomas, T. I.T., loi 
Hannen, Sir James, 365, 372 
Harcourt Buildings, 87-8, 153, 249, 

362, 377 
Harcourt, Sir Simon, T.i.T., L.c, 

47, 88, 1 5 1-3, 364, 377 
Harcourt, Sir William Vernon, 262 
Hardwicke, Earl of. See Yorke 
Hardwicke Society, 58 
Hardy, Thomas, 351 
Hare Court, 72, 79, 82, 95-104, 

270, 324 

Pump, 72, 103-4 

Hare, Hugh, 97, 237 

Hare, John, 97 

Hare, Sir Nicholas, 95 

Hare, Nicholas, son of Sir Nicholas, 

95, 116, 2j6-7, 287 



INDEX 



401 



Hare, Ralph, 97 

Hailcian Charier, 21 

— MSS., 243, 286 

Harley, RoI)ert, Earl of Oxfonl, 

153 
Harris, Rcnatus, 225 

Harrison, Colonel, regicide, 234 
Harrison, Thomas, 58 
Harrison, William, 327 
Harrison's Buildings, 58 
Hartgills, The, 314 
Hastings, Richard de, Master of 

the Temple, 6 
Hastings, Warren, 68, 354, 377 
Hatherley, Lord, L.c, 45, 362 
Hatton, Christopher, i,.c.,27, 175- 

6, 193-4, 288, 336, 377 
Havelock, Sir Henry, 263, 358-9 
Havvarde, John, 131 
Hawarde, John, junior, 131 
Hawarde, Lady Marllia, 131 
Hawarde, vSir William, 131 
Hawarde, William, junior, 131 
Hawkins, Sir Henry, Lord Bramp- 
ton, 86, 364-5, 367-8, 370, 374-5 
Hawkins, Sir John, 108 
Hayley, William, 246 
Hay market Theatre, 198 
Hazlitt, William, 75 
Heale, Serjeant, 289 
Heath, Archbishop, 97 
Heath, Sir Robert, 132-3, 260 
Hedges, John, his will, 347 
Hemming, John, 196 
Henley, Robert, i..c. , Lord North- 

inglon, 155 6 
1 lenrietta Maria, ([ucen of Charles I., 

139. i^o-i, 326 
Henry L, 5, 6, 11, 30, 216 
Henry H., 6-8. 21, 31-2, 215, 216 
Henry, son of Henry H., 216 
Henry HL, 5, 7, 10, 12, 31-2, 46, 

207, 212, 217, 254 
Henry V., 8, 236, 242 
Henry VL, 24, 38, 47, 170, 232 
Htnry VH., 123, 241 
Henry VHL, 25, 33 5, 48, 57, 84, 

95. 98, 112, 122, 167, 201, 234, 

240, 242, 264, 291, 312 
Henry, Prince of Wales, son of 

James I., 112, 113, 130 



Heraclius, Patriarch of Jerusalem, 

8, 21, 206, 215, 226 
Heraldic glass. Inner Temple Hall, 

45 

Middle Temple Hall, 283 

Herbert, Sir Edward, I„C.J., Lord 

Keeper, 103, 139, 145, 187, 326 
Herschell, Lord, i,.c., 163, 262, 369 
Heton, Ur. Martin, 195 
Hewitt, James, L.c, Ireland, 343 
Hey ward, Edward, 67 
Heyward's Buildings, 67 
Hicks, John, preacher, 102 
High Court of Admiralty, 68, 352 
Hill, Alexander Staveley, 262 
Hill, Captain, 331 
Ilinde, Rowlantl, 55 
Hogarth's paintings, I.T. , 50 
Holborn, 23, 234, 243 4 

— Bars, 7, 186, 264 

— Court, Gray's Inn, 352 
Holland, Lord, 183 
Holland House, 74 
Holies, Denzil, 67 

Holker, Lord Justice, 367, 369 
Holloway, John, t.i.t. , 109, 155 
Holloway, Sir Richard, 102, 146, 

150 
Holt, Sir John, 149, 245 
Holy Se|ndchre, Jerusalem, il, 12, 

21, 206, 208 
Honeyman, Sir Ceorge, 364 
IL)oker, John, Master of the 

Temple, 216, 221 
Hopton, Sir Hugh, 126 
Howard, Catherine, 125 
Howard, Lady Elizabeth, 197 
Howard, Lady P'rancis, 137, 191 
Howar<l, Lady Margaret, 192 
Howard, I'hilip, Earl of Arundel, 

128 
Howard, Sir Rnliert, 197 
Howard, Thomas, Uuke of Norfolk, 

192 
Howard, William, Lord High 

i Admiral, 129, 28S 9 

Huddleslon, Sir Ednnmd, 130 
Huddleston, Henry, 130 

, Hunt, Leigh, 95 

' Hutchinson, John, 252, 293 
Hutton, John, 134 



402 ^J'HE INNER AND MIDDLE TEMPLE 



Hyde, Anne, 327 I 

Hyde, Edward, Earl of Clarendon, 
L.C, 140, 172, 187, 285, 317, 

319. 321, 326-7, 329 
Hyde, Nicholas, 318-19 
Hyde, Robert, 327 

Inderwick, F. A., 47, 52, 164, 185, 

192, 196 
Inner Temple, 22, 24-5, 27, 36-8, 

40-1, 54, 62, 69, 282, 293, 304, 

314-15, 320-1, 325, 336 

Gardens, 235, 248-51 

Gateway, the, III-15, 144. 

270 
Hall, 21, 40-5, 47, 50-1, 53, 

59, 100, 121, 140-1, 144, 151-3. 

163, 169, 192, 194-200, 235, 263, 

270, 307, 324-5, 337 
Lane, 71-2, 74, 104-9, 243, 

266, 358 
Inner Tempie Masque, The, 186 
Inner Temple Plate, 43, 1 16-17 
Inn of Court, Constitution of, 36-9 
Inns of Chancery, 2, 3, 23, 26, 37, 

125, 133, 232-46, 314, 321 

— of Court, 2, 26, 32, 34-6, 39, 
98, 116, 125, 131, 133, 174, 184, 
186, 1S8, 190-1, 196-7, 225, 232, 
259, 261-3, 265, 269, 313-14, 321 

Masquers, 186-91 

Volunteers, 109, 257-63, 

283 
Ireland, 8, 15 

— Grand Preceptor of, 217 

— Lord Chancellor of, 343 

— Templars in, 16 
Ireton, Henry, 321 
Ivy, Lady, 327 
Ivy, Simon, 187 

Jackson, Randle, Bencher M.T., 

71, 78, 218 
Jackson, William, 78 
James I., 25, 98, no, 113, 129, 

137-8, 185, 259, 273, 289, 296, 

315, 317, 336 
James II., 138, 140-1, 143, 147, 

150, 196-7, 266, 283, 319, 327, 

329, 333, 377 
James, Younp; Pretender, 261 



James, Edwin, 368 

James, Llenry, Lord James of Here- 
ford, 374-5 

Jameson Trial, 37° 

Jeffreys, or Jefferies, Sir George, 
L.C, 47, 101-3, 104, 145, 148, 
149, 151, 154, 197, 225-6, 289, 
324, 327-9, 332, 377 

Jeffs, the butler, 277, 293 

Jekyll, Joseph, M.R., 339 

Tekyll, Joseph, T.I.T., 40, 71, 77-8, 

167, 352 
Jelf, Sir Arthur, 164 
Jermyn, Serjeant, 326 
Jervis, Sir John, t.m.t., 359-60 
Jeune, Sir Francis, 164 
Jewkes, Richard, 218 
Jewkes, Roland, 67 
John, King, 10, 12, 217, 232, 257 
Johnson, Dr. Samuel, 105-8, 156, 

243, 266, 272, 274, 278, 280, 

30S, 352 
Johnson's, Dr., Buildings, 109 
Jones, Inigo, 113, 185, 241, 316 
Jones, Sir William, 304 
Jonson, Ben, 197, 223, 274, 314 
Junius's Letters, 349 
Justinian, Emperor, 4 

— The English, 32 

Karslake, John, 366-7 

Kaye, Joseph, 262 

Keeley, Miss, 86 

Keeley, Mr. and Mrs. Robert, 86 

Keelyng, John, 141 

Kellewaie, Kelloway, Kelway, Kail- 
way, Keylwey, or Cay 1 way, 
Robert, 89, 175 

— Agnes, 315 
Kelly, Sir Fitzroy, 362 
Kelly, Miss, 75 

Kemp, Thomas Richardson, 370 
Kenealy, Dr., 362, 363, 364 
Kennet, White, Bishop of Peter- 
borough, 145 
Kenny, James, dramatist. 75 
Kenyon, Lloyd, Lord, 283, 348 
Kenyon-Parker, T.L.I., 263 
King, Peter, Baron King of Ock- 

ham, L.C, 155, 173, 341. 349 
King's Bench Buildings, 59 



INDEX 



403 



King's Bench Office, 59, 85 

Walk, 53, 55, 57-9, 61, 64, 

84, 143-4, 220, 251, 255 

No. I, 54, 60 

No. 2, 61, 84 

No. 3, 58, 85, 161, 171, 

278, 375 

No. 4, 59, 77, 144 

No. 5, 59, 61, 62, 63, 64, 

76, 145 

No. 6, 77, 86 

No. 8, 64, 36S 

No. 9, 64 

— No. 10, 64, 247-8 

— No. II, 58 

No. 12, 58, 64 

No. 13, 163 

Kingston, Duchess of, 158, 349 
Kneller, Sir (jodfrey, 46, 102, 151, 

283 
Knights Ilospit.illers, 4, 12, 19, 22, 

25, 46, 219, 220, 228 
Knights Temiihus, History of, 4- iS 

— — Abolition of Order of, 19 
Arms of, 27-8 

Brewery of, 44 

Burial ground of, 51 

Effigies, 210, 211 

Hall of, 24, 40 

Idol of, 41 

Initiation of,4i, 213-14,376-7 

Meniliers of Secret Society, 

207-8 

Punishments of, 36, 41, 217 

Shields of, 46 

Statues of, 46 

Toniljs of, 201, 227, 228, 

252 3, 257-8, 276, 376 
Worship of, 167, 219-20 

Labori, Maitrc, 59 

Lamb, Charles, 28, 42, 57, 70-8, 

103, 108, 218, 235, 354, 358, 378 
Lamb, John (Lovell), father of 

Charles, 71 
Laml), John, brother of Charles, 75 
Lamb, Mary, 71-2, 75-6 
Lamb Building, 51, 303-9, 378 

— Court, 51, 304, 308 
Lambert. Major-General, 141 
Lambeth Palace, 123, 169 



Lancaster, Thomas, Karl of, 20, 22 
Lane, Sir Richard, Lord Keeper, 

Langford, William de, 20, 22, 24 
Langhorne, Richard, 104-5 
Laud, Archbishop, 326, 333 
Law, Edward, Lord Ellenborough, 

60, 68, 377 
Law Courts, 7, 267 

Great Hall of, 335 

— Guilds, 34, 232 

Lawes, Henry, 1S7 

Lawes, William, 187 

Lawrence, Sir Thomas, 173 

Lechmere, Nicholas, 330 

Lcdsome's Chambers, 84 

Legal Association, The, 262 

Legh, Gerald, 27, 1 75 6 

Leicester, Earl of, 19, 85 

Leicester House party, 155 

Lely, Sir Peter, 103 

Lennox, Mrs., 274 

Levinz, Serjeant Cresswell, 105 

Levinz, .Sir Cresswell, 47, 145, 148 

Lewis, Sir George, 195 

Library, Inner Temple, 42, 43, 47, 

48, 49, 50> 104, 159 

Lilburne, John, Colonel, 135, 321 

Lincoln's Inn, 7, 23, 25, 45, 47, 
68, 92, 99, 127, 130, 184-5, 187, 
190, 240-2, 259, 261-2, 265, 282, 
292, 306, 313-14, 337, 371 

Chapel, 292, 323 

Fields, 140, 245, 334, 339 

Gateway, 261 

Hall, 314 

Lindley, Nathaniel, Baron, 374-5 

Link extinguishers, 172 

Linley, Miss, 354 

LTsle, Alice, 102, 14S, 377 

L'Isle, John, 102 

Liston, Charles, 75 

Literary Club, The, 107, loS 

Little Gate of the M.r., 274 

Lloyd, Charles, 75 

Locke, John, 332 

Lockhart, John Gibson, 15S 

Lockwood, Sir Frank, <.|.C., 70 

Longfellow, Henry W. , 378 

Long Parliament, 134, 317-18 

Lopes, Lord Justice, 262 



404 THE INNER AND MIDDLE TEMPLE 



Louise, Princess, 44 

Lovat, Lord, 339-40, 377 

Lovell. See John Lamb 

Lowe, Robert, Chancellor of the 

Exchequer, 45 
Luddites, The, 349 
Ludlaw, Gabriel, regicide, 139 
Ludlow, Henry, t.m.t., 292 
Lush, Montague, t.g.i., 375 
Lush, Sir Robert, 364, 375 
Lushington, Henry, 159 
Lushington, Stephen, Judge of the 

High Court of Admiralty, 68, 

372 
Luther, Anthony, 298 
Luther Building, 298 
Luttrell, Narcissus, 100, 204-5, 226 
Lutwyche, Sir Edward, 145 
Lyndhurst, Lord, L.C., 66, 160, 173 
Lyon's Inn, 3, 54, 68, 175, 233, 

236-9 
Lyttelton, or Littleton, Anne, 218 
Lyttelton, or Littleton, Edward, 218 
Lyttelton, or Littleton, Sir Edward, 

Lord Keeper, 90, 131, 133, 138, 

173, 260, 377 
Lyttelton, Dr. John, 222-3 
Lyttelton, James, 133 
Lyttelton, Sir Thomas, 38, 47, 

122-3, 308 
Lyttelton, Timothy, 133 

Macaulay, Lord, 10, 77, 145-7, 

204, 358 
Macclesfield, Earl of. See Thomas 

Parker 
McNaghten, John, 361 
Macready, W. C, 358 
Mackworth's Inn. See Barnard's 

Inn 
Mackworth, John, Dean of Lincoln, 

243 
Mackworth of Mackworth, 243, 246 

Madox, Thomas, 332 

Magnaville, or Mandeville, Geoffrey 

de, Earl of Essex, 211 
Maitland, W. F., 31, 34 
Malcolm, Sarah, 52 
Manchester, Earl of. See Henry 

Montague 
Manciple, The Temple, 119 



Manners, Lord John, 45 
Manners, Oliver, 130 
Manning, Thomas, 72 
Manningham, Anne {iic'e Curie), 286 
Manningham, John, 286-7 
Manningham, Richard, 286 
Manningham, Richard, son of 

John, 287 
Mansfield, James, t.m.t., 349 
Mansfield, Lord. See Murray 
Manwood, Sir Roger, L.c. B., 27, 

SI. 175-6 

Mareschal, Gilbert, 212 

Mareschal, William, Earl of Pem- 
broke, 46, 212, 257 

Mareschal, William, the younger, 
212 

Margery, d. of Archbishop Cran- 
mer, 193 _ 

Marigold window, 228, 230 

Marlborough, Duke of, 261 

Marlborough, Sarah, Duchess of, 
62, 265 

Marten, Sir Henry, Dean of Arches, 

139 
Marten, Henry, regicide, 139 

Martin, J., 172 

Martin, Richard, 218, 314 

Martin, Ryder, t.m.t., 279 

Martyrs, Army of, 126 

Mary of Orange, Queen, 46, 151 

Mary Stuart, Queen of Scots, 52, 

127-8, 192-3 
Mary Tudor, Queen, 126-7, 220, 

265, 310, 313 
Maseres, Baron, 78 
Masonic symbols in Temple Church, 

208-10 
Masque, The, 181, 184-91 
Great, 1633, 139, 1S6-91, 259, 

316, 320 

— of Flowers, 191 
Masque of Heroes, The, 186 
Master of the Templars, 10, 217, 

219 

New Temple, 219, 220 

Temple, 10, no, 198, 217, 

219-31 
Master's garden, 223, 231 

— house, The, in, 144, 220, 221, 
225, 231 



INDEX 



405 



Masters of the Bench, i.T. , 59, 61, 
163-5 

M.T., 373-5 

Masters, Dr. Thomas, 221 
Mathevv, J. C, L.J., 364 
Mathews, Charles Willie, 86 
Matilda, Queen, 6 
Matthews, Henry, Viscount Llan- 

daft", 364 
Maule, Sir John, 70 
Maynard, Sir John, 147, 173, 333 
Mayne, Simon, regicide, 139 
Meal Tub Plot, The, 147 
Melbourne, Lord, 64, 355-7 
Mellor, Sir John, 364 
Melon Cup, The, 116 
Merricke, Christopher, 135 
Michaelmas Term, First Day of, 

335-6 

Micklethwaite, Dr. Paul, ill, 222-3 

Middle Temple, 7, 22, 24, 28, 5 1, 

54, 79, So, 86, 91, 119-20, 126, 

148-9, 175, 185, 187, 190, 202, 

206, 218, 222, 235, 238, 240, 262, 

268 

Garden, 247, 251-2, 290-1, 

374 , 

Gateway, 274, 298 

Hall, 50, 79, 171, 195, 241, 

263, 268, 276, 281-90, 311, 

313-15. 317, 320, 374, 377 
Lane, 21, 52, 53, loi, 248-9, 

253. 272, 294, 296-7, 322, 332 
Library, 252, 276, 290-3, 

••^73-4 
Milton, Sir Christopher, 195 
Mikon, John, 184, 187, 195 
^tinf;ay, James, Bencher l.r. , 71, 

77 
Minstrel gallery, i.i. Hall, 39,46 

M.T. Hall, 284 

Mitre Court, 52, 53, 54, 55, 57, 203 
Buddings, 72, 77-8, 82, 84, 

159. 309 

Gate, 55 

Mohun, Lord, 33 '.,338 

Molay, James de. Grand Master of 

Knights Temjilars, 13, 14 
Monmouth, Duko of, loo, 103, 266 
Montague, Basil, 75 
Montague, Edward, 312 



Montague, Sir Henry, 268, 312, 

316-17 
Montague, Sir Sidney, 182 
Montague, William, 327-8 
Monteagle, Lord, 129 
Montgomery, General, 262 
Moore, Thomas, 354 
Moots, 37, 233 

More, Sir Thomas, 125, 240, 312 
More, William de la. Grand Master 

of Knights Templars in England, 

16-17, 219 
Morris, Catherine, 78 
Morton, Robert, Earl of, 257 
Mostyn, Sir Roger, 137, 151 
Moulton, J. Fletcher, 375 
Mulholland, Ellen, Lady Russell, 

368 
Murray, William, Lord Mansfield, 

61, 62, 173, 245, 283, 339-40, 

342, 348, 368, 377 

Nando's Coffee House, 114-15 

Nash, Beau, 338, 377 

Neville, Richard, 258 

New Court, 274, 296, 302, 360, 375 

— — Gary Street, 368 

— Inn, 3, 234, 236, 238, 239-40 

— Palace Yard, 266 

— Place, Stratford-on-Avon, 195 

— Sf[uare, L. i., 164, 363 

- Temple, 8, 10, 23, 237, 253 
Newgate, 8, 62, 338, 360 
Newton, Sir Henry, 137 
Newton, Sir Isaac, 332 
Nicholas, Robert, 1 34-5, 138 
Norfolk, Duke t)f, Tlu.mas Howard 

^ 19, 192, 295 
North, Rising in, 127 
North, Sir Francis, Lord Guilford, 

L.C., 103-5, 172,273,328-9 

North, Sir Ford, 164 

North, Roger, t.m.t., 172, 273, 

326, 329, i37 
Northampton, Earl of, 130, 137 
Northern Circuit, 307, 319, 358, 

368, 372 
Northund)erland, Earl of, 127 
Norton, Christopher, 355 
Norton, Sir Fletcher, Speaker H.C, 

344-5. 355 



4o6 THE INNER AND MIDDLE TEINIPLE 



Norton, Hon. George Chap]ile, 64, 

335^7 
Norton, Hon. Mrs. G. C. {ncc 

Carry Sheridan), 335-7 
Norton, Thomas, 192-3 
Norton, Thomas Brinsley, Lord 

Grantley, 357 
Noy, or Noye, William, Att.-Gen., 

132, 187, 189 

Gates, Titus, 104, 105, 147, 265 

Office of Arms, 176 

Ogilby's Plan, 109, no, 144, 293, 

304 
Old Bailey, 30, 62, 86, 103, 104, 

139, 152, 163, 338, 377 
" Old Benchers of the Inner Temple, 

The," 42, 71, 378 
Old Churchyard, 217 

— Hall, I.T., 21, 39, 41-7, 53, 59 

— Hall, M.T., 24, 299, 313 

— Palace Yard, Westminster, 98, 
130, 290 

— Post House, 270-2, 277 

— Square, L. I., 160, 375 

— Temple, The, 7, II, 211, 228 
Onslow, Arthur, Speaker H.C., 

343-4 
Onslow, Richard, Speaker h.c, 

137, 153. 175 
Onslow, Sir Richard, 137 
Organ, The, 215, 225, 226 
Otway, Thomas, 198 
"Our Ladye Inn," 239, 240 
Outer or Utter Bar, 38-9, loS 

— Garden, 52, 53 

— Temple, 19, 21-2, 52, 95, 295 
Overburye, Nicholas, T. mt., 230 
Overburye, Sir Thomas, 52, 90, 230 
Oxford, Earl of, 137, 292 

Packington, Sir John, T. i.t., 48, 

247 
Packington's Rents, 48, 50 
Paganis, Hugh de, 4 
Paget, Lord, 19, 295 
Palaphilos, Prince of Sophie, 27, 

175 
Palgrave's Head Court, 272 
Palmer, Sir Roundell, Lord Sel- 



liorne, L c. 



\<oz 



Panter, a baker, 177 

Panyer, panyere, pannier, payner, 
paner, a bread-basket, 284 

Panyer-man, pannier, panyere, ser- 
vant who cuts bread, etc., 284 

Paper Buililings, 53, 67-71, 248 

No. I, 67 

No. 2, 70 

No, 4, 69 

No. s, 86, 163 

No. 6, 68 

No. 14, 68-9, 78, 360 

Parke, James, Baron VVensleydale, 
160-I 

Parke, Sir James Allan, 160 

Parker, Thomas, Earl of Maccles- 
field, L.c , 154-5, 340, 342, 377 

Parliament Chambers, I.T. , 38, 
46-9, 118, 129, 155 

M.T., 2S5-6, 315, 317 

Parnell Commission, 162, 369, 372 

Parry, Edward Abbott, judge, 358 

Parry, Serjeant, 64, 364 

Parson's Court, no, in 

— Lane, 72, 73 
Partition Treaty, 152 
Paston, John, 121 
Paston, William, 121 

Pawlett, Sir Amisius or Amias, 

T.M.T., 269 
Pay, Raymond du, 21 
Peake, Sir William, 324 
Peel, Sir Robert, 357, 359, 361, 

364 
Pegasus, 27, 46, 104, 151 
Pemberton, Francis, 104. 144-5, 

148 
Pembroke, Earl of, 20 
Pendennis, Artliur, 251, 307-8 
Pendennis, Major, 308 
Penitential Cell, 36, 217 
Penruddock, Colonel, 134 
Pepys, Richard, 319 
Pepys, Samuel, 148, 273, 319, 324 
Pepys, Talbot, 319 
Perkins, Sir William, 338 
Petre, Edward, Father, 147 
Petyt, Sylvester, 49, 245 
Petyt, William, t.i.t., 49, 218, 292 
Petyt bequests, 49, 50 

— MSS., 49, 212 



INDEX 



407 



Phelips, Sir Ivlwanl, .M.K., Speaker 

H.C., 136, 185, 316 
Phelips, Robert, 136 
riiilip Ic Bel, 13-15, 19, 208 
I'hilip and Mary, 79, 96, 169, 314, 

316 
Phillimore, Sir Robert J., t.m.t., 

372 
Phillimore, Sir Walter G. F., 375 
Pierson, Peter, Bencher i.r., 71, 

78,218 
Pillars, Serjeants', 168 
Pillory at Temple Bar, 135, 265-6 
Pim, De, 21, 228 
Piscina in Priests' Hall, 43 
Piscina, Double, Temple Church, 

216 
Pitt, William, Earl of Chatham, 

157, 344, 346, 351, 354 
Plague, The, 124, 143, 318 
Plantagenet, William, 212 
Plate, The Church, 230 
— The Inner Temple, I16-17 
Plays, Stage, 192-200 
Plowden, Edmund, T.M.T., 35, 21S, 

281, 283, 289, 310-12, 377 
Plowden Buildings, 297-8, 311, 

360 
Poland, Sir Harry Bodkin, K.C., 

T.I. I"., viii., 103 
Pole, Sir William, T.I.T., 129, 175 
Pollard, Sir Lewis, 170 
Pollexfen, Henry, 148-9, 377 
Pollock, Sir Frederick, l.c.b. , 

306-7, 359' 370 
Pollock, Sir Frederick, 31 
Pope, Alexander, 61, 115, 152, 199, 

266, 377 
Popham, Sir Juhn, i.M.r., 130, 

289-90, 31 1- 1 2 
Porch, The, 214-15 
Portcous Riots, 61 
Postman of Court of Exchequer, 

108, 162, 374 
Powell, Sir John, 146, 150 
Powis, Sir Thomas, Alt. -Gen., 146, 

148 
Praed, Serjeant William Mack- 
worth, 358 
Praed, Winthrop Mackworth, 82, 

35^ 



Pratt, Charles, Lord Camden, L.C., 

153. 156 7. 173 
Pratt, Sir John, i..c._i., 153, 173 
Prideaux, Edmund, 1. 1 T. , 104,321, 

377 
Priests, The Temple, 220 

— Hall, I.T., 42, 43 

— Lands, 21 

Prince's Arms. See No. 17, Fleet 

Street 
Prior, James, 277-8 
Prior, ALalthcw, 152, 199, 377 
Procter, Bryan Waller, 75 
Prynne, John, 35, 135, 191 
Pulling, Serjeant Alexander, 77, 

359 
Pultock, Robert, 235 
Pump Court, 21, 24, 94, 268, 2S0, 

285, 298-300, 302, 307, 322, 324, 

340, 349, 358, 368, 372 
Pye, Edmund, 136 
Pye, James, 136 
Pye, Sir Robert, 135-6 
Pye, Robert, son of Sir Robert, 136 
Pye, Sir Walter P., t.m.t., 99 
Pye, Sir William, 136 
Pym, John, 287 
Pyx, the, 228 

Queen Dowager, Duchess of Kent, 

230 
Quincey, Thomas de, 354 

Radcliffe's Chambers, 90 

Rainbow, The, 1 15 

Raleigh, Sir Waller, 89, 2S4, 285, 

288-90, 315, 317 
Raleigh, William, Canon of St. 

Paul's, 31 
RamAlley, 55, 132, 141, 143,202-3, 

377 
Reader, 37, 38, 54, 68, 98, 233, 328 

— Double, 38 

Reader's Feast, 37, 328, 335 
Rebels of '15, 339 

— heads at Temple Bar, 266 
Reception, The, 33-5 
Reformation, The, 25, 32, 35, 168, 

201, 203, 220 
Regiciiles, The, 102 
Regulations as to Women, 126 



4o8 THE INNER AND MIDDLE TEMPLE 



Renaissance, 26, 33, 34, 35, 281 
Restoration, The, 139, 191, 196, 

326, 333 
Revels, The, i.t., 42, 157, 174-82, 

193, 198 
L.I., 313, 337 

M.T., 182-3, 286, 322 

Revolution of 1688, 261, 266, 334 
Reynolds, Sir Joshua, 62, 108, 173, 

378 
Reynolds, Percy, 278 
Rich, Sir Robert, Earl of Warwick, 

137,312-13 
Richard I., 9-10, 216, 291 
Richard II., 120, 166-7, 240 
Richardson, Samuel, 353 
Rickman, H. C, 75 
Riderfort, Gerard de. Grand Master, 

8 
Ridley, Sir Edward, 164 
Ridley, Sir Matthew White, 160 
River Wall, 4S, 247-8, 251 
Robinson, Serjeant, 66, 368 
Rochester, Earl of, 271 
Rogers, Samuel, 69, 70 
Rolle, Henry, 1 34-5, 138, 2S0 
Rolls House, 316 
Romilly, Sir John, m.r. , 351, 361 
Ros, De, 212, 213 
Roscarrock, Nicholas, 126 
Roscommon, Earl of, 271 
Rosse, Sir Robert, 212 
Round, The, 8, 11, 12, 21, 40, 43, 

109-10, 206-10, 213, 215, 216, 

217, 218, 222, 223, 226, 227, 

228, 314, 376 
— Churches, 1 1-12 
Rowe, John, Serjeant, 334 
Rowe, Nicholas, 334 
Royal Society, 204, 274 
Royalists, The, 134, 260, 322 
Royalist members, 134-6 
Rudhale, William, Serjeant, 123, 

170 
Rupert, Prince, 141, 273 
Russell, Charles, Lord Russell of 

Killowen, L c.j. of England, 148, 

163, 277, 300, 364-5, 36S-71, 

378 
Russell, Lord William, 145 332 
Ryder, Dudley, L.C.J., 339, 340, 342 



Rye House Plot, The, 144 
Ryvett, James, Bencher I.T., 97 

Sacheverell, Dr., 152, 154, 338 
Sackville,Robert,son of Thomas, 193 
Sackville, Thomas, Lord Buckhurst, 

Earl of Dorset, 192-3, 288-9 
Sackville, Thomas, son of Thomas, 

^93. 

Sackville, William, son of Thomas, 

193 
St. Andrew's Church, Holborn, 32, 

168 
St. Anne's Chapel, 43, 213-14, 

222, 228, 230, 325 
St. Botolph's Church, 16, 217 
St. Clement, 235 

St. Clement Danes Church, 235, 
^ 237, 252 

St. Clement's Inn, 235. See Cle- 
ment's Inn 
St. Dunstan's Church in the West, 

115, 170, 192, 234 

Sign, 273 

St. Erkenwald's Shrine, 168 

St. George's Inn, 24, 25, 32, 239 

Lane, 239 

St. James's Church, 280 

St. John, Lord Bolingbroke, 153 

St. John, Oliver, 261 

St. John of Jerusalem, Order of, 19 

St. John's Priory, Clerkenwell, 

169, 219, 220 
St. Martin's Church, Aldersgate, 

16, 114, 217 
St. Maur, Master of the Temple, 10 
St. Paul's Cathedral, 130, 168, 214, 

227, 265 

Churchyard, 274 

Parvis, 222 

St. Sepulchre's Church, Cambridge, 

II 

London, 32, 239 

Northampton, li 

St. Thomas of Acre, 167-8 

St. Thomas's Chapel, Cheapside, 

377 
Inner Temple, 43, 168, 

214, 220, 325 
Salisbury, Marchioness of, 69 
— Marquis of. See Robert Cecil 



INDEX 



409 



Salmon, Mrs., 114 

Salt, Samuel, Bencher I.T. , 71 

Sancroft, Archhishop, 149 

Sanctuary, Right of, 201-5 

Saunders, Chief Justice, 235 

Savage, Edward, 84 

Savage, James, 282 

Sawyer, Sir Robert, T. I.T., I45-8, 

225, 377 
Scarlett, James, Baron Abinger, 

60, 6r, 316, 359 
Schmidt, Bernard (Father Smith), 

215, 225-6 
Scotland, 5, 8, 15, 16, 144 

— Campaign in, 13 

— Reception in, 34 

— Union with, 152 

Scott, John, Lord Eldon, L c. , 156, 
173, 283, 285, 308, 346, 350-2 

Scott, Sir Walter, 136, 203, 235, 
280, 283, 352 

Scott, William, Lord Stowell, 283, 

350, 352-3. 372 
Screen, i.r. Hall, 39, 46 

— M.T. ILall, 281 

— Temple Church, 215, 224 
Scroggs, Sir William, L.c.y., 104-5, 

145' 
Scroope's (Scrope) Inn, 168 
Scrope, Richard le, 258 
Seals of the Knights Hospitallers, 

21, 228 

Knights Templars, 27-8 

Secret Societies and the Knights 

Templars, 207-10 
Selborne, Lord. See Palmer 
Selden, John, 35, 38, 67, 133, 137, 

139, 1S6-7, 216, 218, 233, 310, 

314 
Serjeants, 2, 3, 35, 39, 45, 166- 

173. 214, 337, 377 

— Feasts, 123-4, 167, 169, 171, 

3\3, 317 

— (lowns, 98, 166-7 

— Inn, Fleet Street, 5, 56, 58, 1 14, 
167, 169-172, 359, 377 

Chancery Lane, 167, 1 72-3, 

234, ^^29 

Garden, Chancery Lane, 172 

Fleet Street, 171 

— Inns, 2-3 



Serjeants' Place ; or, Scroope's Inn, 
168 

— Rings, 50, 169, 313 

Seven Bishops, Trial of the, 141, 

145-150 
Seymour, Lady, Sec Sheridan 
Seymour, Digby, 373 
Shadwell, John, 334 
Shadwell, Thomas, dramatist, 203-4, 

331. 334 
Shaftesbury, Earl of, 291 
Shakespeare, William, 121, 122, 

186, 195-6, 236, 258, 271, 274, 

276, 288, 312, 354, 377 
Sharpe, Richard, 69 
Shee, Serjeant, 361 
Shelburne, Lord, 345 
Sheldon, Gilbert, Archbishop of 

Canterbury, 335 
Shelley, Percy Bysshe, 69 
Shelley, William, Serjeant, 123, 170 
Shepherd, The, 236 
"Shepherd's Inn," 235-6 
Sheridan, Caroline. See Norton 
Sheridan, Georgy, Lady .Seymour, 

355 
Sheridan, Helen, Lady Dufferin, 

355 
Sheridan, Richard Brinsley, 69, 

78, 353-5, 377 
Sheridan, Tom, 355 
Sherlock, Dr. Thomas, Bishop of 

Bangor and London, 19S, 227, 

231 
Sherlock, Dr. William, 231 
Ship-money case, 90, 132, 134, 

317-18 
Shirley, James, 197, 270 
Shirley, Sir Robert, 296 
.Shower, Sir Bartholomew, 148, 332 
Shrewsbury bells, 126 

— case "^72 
Sidney,' Sir Philip, 288 
Sidney, Sir Roliert, 311 
Skellon, Sir John, 95 
Slaughter, Colonel Etlward, 137 
Sloane, Sir Hans, 323 
Smirkc, Sir Robert, 172, 228 
Smirke, Sir Sydney, 44, 45 
Smith, Sir .Archibald Levin, NT.R.. 

162 3. 372 



4IO THE INNER AND MIDDLE TEMPLE 



Smith, Judge Lumley, 164 
Smith, Dr. Thomas, 33 
Smyth, Sir Hugh, 64 
Somers, John, Baron Somers, L. C. , 
22, 149, 152, 204, 283, 2S5, 330, 

331, 339. 377 
Somerset, Duchess of, 296 
Somerset, Lady Francis, Countess 

of, 52, 90, 191 
Somerset, Robert Carr, Earl of, 

52, 90, 137-8, 191 
Somerset, Earl of, 12 1-2 
Somerset, Lord Protector, 3, 35, 

193, 238-9, 312 
Somerset, The Ladies, 276 
South Sea Bul)l;)le, 154, 339, 377 
Southampton, Earl of, 2S9, 312 
Southerne. Thomas, 333-4 
Southey, Robert, 235 
Spectator, Mr., 251, 308 
Spenser, Edmund, 193, 276, 295 
Stage Plays, 192-200 
Staple Ilall, 242 

— Inn, 105, 233, 242, 243 
Stapleton, Anthony, 171, 175 
Stapleton, Walter de. Bishop of 

Exeter, 19, 295 
Stapleton Inn, 19 
Stapeley, Anthony, regicide, 139 
Star Chaml)er, 33, 96, 125, 128, 

135. 315-16 
Statues, Knights Templars, i.T. 

Hall, 46 
Steele, Richard, 274 
Stephen, King, 6, 11, 32, 211, 216 
Stewart, General Herl)ert, 263 
Stone Buildings, L. i., 346, 350 
Stourton, Lord, 314 
Stowell, Lord. See W. Scott 
Strafford, Thomas Went worth, Earl 

of, 138, 320-2, 333 
Strand, 7, 20, 153, 1S7, 234, 253, 

267, 295 

— Inn, 3, 238-9 

Strange, Sir John, M.R., 340, 342 
Strangwig, Jacolj, 172 
Styrrell, Henry, 202 
Suffolk, Earl of, 121, 122 
Sumptuary Laws, 124, 127, 316 
Sundials, The Temple, 250, 278-9, 
300 



Sunderland, Lord, 149 
Sunderland, Countess of, 323 
Surtees, Bessie, 350 
Sussex, Countess of, 260 
Sutton, Master, 116 
Swift, Dr. Jonathan, 152, 271, 274, 
334, 377^ 

Talbot, Charles, L.C., 157, 198, 341 
Talfourd, Thomas Noon, 64, 74, 76, 

235. 354,. 356, 357-9 
Tanfield, Sir Lawrence, 51 2, 269 
Tanfield Court, 49, 5 1 -2, 144 
Taylor, Joseph, 186 
Taylor, Sarah, 160 
Taylor, Tom, 80, 8r, 159 
Teck, Mary, Duchess of, 374 
Teck, Duke of, 374 
Temple Bar, 150, 264-7, 295 

— Bruere, 7, 12 

— Charter of 1608, 25 

— Church, 43, 50, 51, 52, 53, 67, 
11. 94, 97, 139, 164, 176, 194, 
201, 206-30, 258, 261, 285, 304, 

325. 376 

— Court, 1 10 

— Crests, 27, 307 

— Flower Show, 199 

— Fountain, 275-7, 325 

— Gardens, The, 57, 247-52, 257-8, 
308 

(Buildings), 286 

— Gate, 28-9, 135, 308 

— inventory, 17 

— Manor, Stroud, Kent, 28 

— Master of the, 6, 7, 10, 12, 16-17 

— The old, 7, 1 1 

— The Paris, 6, 8 

— Solomon's, 4, 208 

— ■ Stairs, Pier or Bridge, 140, 185, 
247, 253-6, 294, 345 

— Street, 255 

— vineyards, 14 

— walks, 153 

Ten Crown Office Row, 80, 81 
Tenison, Dr., 322 
Tennyson, Lord, 159-60 
Terrace, The, IT., 154 
Test Act, 327 

Thackeray, William Makepeace, 28, 
79, 80-2, 165, 235-6, 307-9 



I 



INDEX 



411 



Thavie, Alice, 24 

Thavie or Thaive, John, 23-4 

Thavie's Inn, 22-3, 25, 32, 240 

Thcllusson case, 347 

Tliclwall, Jolin, 351 

Thesiger, lion. AllVcil 1 Iciiiy, L.J., 

162, 262 
Thesiger, FVederick, Lord Chelms- 
ford, L.C., 63-5, 162, 356 
Tlionison, Archlnshop of York, 45 
Tliornhill, Sir James, 104, 152 
Throckmorton, P'rancis, 12S 
Throckmorton, Sir John, 97, 128 
Throckmorton, John, jun., 128 
Throckmorton, Sir Nichokxs, t;4, 

96 7 
Thurlow, I'',iI\vard,Li>rd Cliancellor, 
94, 106, 115, 158, 227, 346, 349 
Thurlow, Dr. Thomas, Bishop of 

Durham, 227 
Thurstell, — , 237 
Thynn, Thomas, V^iscounl Siil- 

moulh, 296 
Tichhornc trial, 360, 362-5, 36S 
Tillotson, Archjjishop, 204, 271 
Tindal, Lord Chief Justice, 356 
Tooke, John Home, 62, 69, 92, 34S, 

35' 
Torches f)r l\evels, iSl 
Tower, The, 16, 56, 95, 103, 122, 

126, 12S, 129, 139, 193, 311 
Townshend, Charles, 77, 343 
Tradescant, John, 323 
Travcrs, Walter, 221 
Treasure House of Teinpic, 12, 41 
Treasurer's House, Inner Teni])le, 

48, 50 
Treaty of Partition, 331 
Treaty of Utrecht, 152 
Trehy, Sir (Jeorge, H8-9, 334 
Tresham, Francis, 129 
Tresham, Lewis, 129 
Tresham, Sir Thomas, 129 
Tresham, William, 129 
Trevor, Mark, Viscount Dungannon 

and Haron Rostrevor, 136 
Trevor, Sir John, T. i.r. , m.k., 

Speaker li.c, 151 
Trevor, Sir Thomas, r. i.i., 131, 153 
Trial of Seven Hishojis, 330, 332,377 
Tiifmium, 78, 217, 218-19, 3H 



Trinder, Serjeant Henry, 148 
Tubman of the Exchequer Court, 

108 
Turner, Godfrey, 276 
Turner, Sir William, 324 
'Jwelfth Nighl, 286, 287-8 
Twisden, Mr. Justice, 287, 337 
— Buildings, 304, 337 
Twyford, Henry, 299 

Underhill, William, 195 
Unton, Sir Henry, 129 

Valence, A}-mcr de, Earl of I'em- 

broke, 20 
Van Dyck, Sir Anthony, 283 
Van .Somer, 57 
Vane, Sir Henry, 141 
Vaughan, Sir John, 67 
Vecchio, Pal ma, 286 
Venables, George Stovin, 79, 159, 

308-9 
Venezuelan Arliilration, 370, 374 
Vernoy, Sir Richard, 260, 296 
Vernon, Thomas, r.M.i"., 332 
Victoria, Queen, 42, 44, 262, 264, 
^.267, 374 
Vienne, Council of, 19, 219 
Vine Court, 298-9, 324-6 

Wadham, Nicholas, 129 
Wagstaffe, Sir Joseph, 134 
Waleynliam, William, 'I'.c.l., 242 
Walker, Tiiomas, T. i.'i"., 49 
Wallace, Rol)ert, 375 
Waller, Sir William, 103 
Wallop, Richanl, 332 
Walpole, Horace, 341 
Walter, Sir Jolin, Sol. -Gen., 84 
Walton, John Lawson, 50 
War of American Indc])en<lence, 349 
Wardsand Liveries, Court of, 97- lOO 
Warren, Samuel, T. I.T., 64, 66, 83 
Warrington, (jeorge, 307-8 
Wars of the Roses, 121, 122, 258 
Warwick, Earl of, i;6, 121, 122 
Wat the Tyler, 1 18-19, 258 
Watergate, 23, 83, 91, 296 
Webster, Sir Richard, Loril Alvcr- 

stone, i..<:.j. of England, 163, 

200, 300, 371-2 



412 THE INNER AND MIDDLE TEMPLE 



Wedderburn, Alexander, L.C, 158-g 
Wellington, Duke of, 60, 151, 358 
Wentworth, Thomas. See Strafford, 

Earl of 
Western Circuit, 353, 359 
Westminster, 7, 23, 32, 108, 136, 

154, 254, 260, 274, 276, 320, 353 
Westminster Abbey, 41, 62, 131, 136 
Westminster Hall, 18, 35, 83, 98, 

129, 130, 132, 135, 145, 150, 266, 

289, 291, 318, 321, 335, 336-9, 

342, 354, 356 
Westminster Tournament, 123 
Wharry, John, Bencher I.T., 71, 

78, 218 
Wharton, Philip, Baron, 147 
Whiddon, Sir John, 336 
Whitechapel Bars, 264 
Whitefriars, i, 7, 53, 67, 203-5, 288 
— Gate, 53, 59, 204 
Whitehall, 130, X40, 183, 185-6, 

188, 190-1, 193, 316, 345 
Whitelocke, Bulstrode, 90, 182, 187, 

191, 271, 302, 318-19, 321, 325-6, 

377 
Whitelocke, Sir James, 318 
Whitelocke, R. H., 182 
Whitelocke, William, 325 
Wilberforce, Bishop of Winchester, 

45 
Wilde, John, Serjeant, 138 
Wilde, Thomas, Baron Truro, L.c. , 

161-2 
Wilkes, John, 92, 94, 156, 158, 345 
Willes, Sir James Shaw, 108, 109, 

262-3 
Willes, Sir John, L.c.j. Com. Pleas, 

261 
William III., 46, 103, 136, 140, 

146, 148, 149, 150, 181, 245, 261, 

266, 283, 325, 330, 332-3, 337-8, 

377 



William IV., 354 
Williams, Edward, 57 
Williams, Montagu, Q.C., 85-7 
Williams, Sir William, Speaker, 

146-8 
Willis, William, T.I.T., 55, 61, 161, 

164, 378 
Wills, Sir Alfred, 375 
Winged Horse, 27, 28, 42 
Winter, Capt., 204 
Winter, Robert, 129, 130 
Withers, Mr. Justice, 265 
Wolsey, Cardinal, 95, 112, 124-5, 

269, 335-6 
Wood, Sir Evelyn, v.c, 263 
Worsley, Master Charles, 24, 271, 

292 
Wray, Sir Christopher, L.c.j., 99, 

313 
Wren, Sir Christopher, 144, 225, 

269, 302, 323, 325 
Wright, Nathan, Lord Keeper, 148 
Wright, Sir Robert, L.C.J., 103, 145, 

149, 164 
Wroth, Anthony, 91 
Wroth, John, 91 
Wroth, Sir Peter, 91 
Wroth, Sir Thomas, M.P., 91 
Wyatt, John, T.I.T., 88 
Wyatt's rebellion, 54, 96 
Wycherley, Daniel, 142 
Wycherley, William, dramatist, 

141-2, 197 

York, Richard, Duke of, 121, 122 
York and Lancaster, Houses of, 

246, 258 
York and Lancaster Roses, 247 
Yorke, Charles, Earl of Hardwicke, 

L c. , 340, 342, 345 
Yorke, Philip, Lord Hardwicke, 

L.C, 102, 283, 285, 339, 343, 377 



rLYMOUTH 
WILLIAM BRENDON AND SON, PRINTERS 



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