has long been famous as a law quarter of London. In it are situated , Staple Inn, and , together with what used to be the old legal haunts of Thavie's Inn and . Of these we have now to speak, and the most important of them demands the earliest and deserves a large share of our attention.

[extra_illustrations.2.553.1] , on the north side of , and to the west of , is the Inn of Court in importance and size. It derives its name from the noble family of Gray of Wilton, whose residence it originally was. Edmund, Lord Gray of Wilton, in , by indenture of bargain and sale, transferred to Hugh Denny, Esq.,

the manor of Portpoole, otherwise called

Gray's Inn,

four

messuages,

four

gardens, the site of a windmill,

eight

acres of land,

ten shillings

of free rent, and the advowson of the Chauntry of Portpoole.

From Denny's hands the manor passed into the possession of the Prior and Convent of East Sheen, in Surrey, an ecclesiastical establishment celebrated as having been the nursery of Cardinal Pole, and

The name of Portpoole still survives in , which runs from the east side of into ; and Windmill Hill still exists to point out the site of the windmill mentioned in the deed of transfer we have just quoted.

The old building of are spoken of by a contemporary writer as boasting neither of beauty, uniformity, nor capacity. They had been erected by different persons, each of whom followed the dictates of his own taste, and the accommodation was so scanty that even the ancients of the house had to lodge double.

[extra_illustrations.2.554.1]  was begun to be built in the reign of Queen Mary. It was finished in the reign of Elizabeth (l), and cost In appearance the Hall is acknowledged to be

a very handsome chamber, little inferior to Middle Temple Hall, and its carved wainscot and timber roof render it much more magnificent than the Inner Temple, or

Lincoln's Inn

Hall.

The roof of oak,

is divided into

six

bays, or compartments, by

seven

arched and moulded Gothic ribs or principals. The spandrels, or spaces, are divided by upright timbers, with a horizontal cornice in the centre. At the extremity of the projecting spandrels is a carved pendant ornament, partaking of the nature of an entablature. The screen of this Hall is supported by

six

pillars of the Tuscan order, with caryatides supporting the cornice, in accordance with the style of ornament prevalent at that time. The Hall is also lighted by a handsome louvre, on which was formerly a dial, with the motto

Lux Dei, lex Dei

. Paintings of King Charles I., King Charles II., King James II., Sir Nicholas Bacon, Lord Bacon, and Lord Raymond-Lord Chief Justice of the King's Benchhang upon the walls.

There is a tradition in that the Bench tables in the Hall were the gift of Queen Elizabeth, and that Her Majesty once honoured the society by partaking of a magnificent banquet here.

On every grand day,

the glorious, pious, and immortal memory of Queen Elizabeth is drunk with much formality.

Three

benchers rise to drink the toast; when they sit down,

three

others rise; and in this manner the toast passes down the Bar table, and from thence to the Students' table. It deserves to be remarked, too, that this is the only toast drunk in the Hall, and from the pleasure which Elizabeth derived from witnessing the performances of the gentlemen of

Gray's Inn

at her own palaces, and the distinction with which she on several occasions received them, it seems probable that the tradition to which reference has been made is correct, more especially as the Cecils, the Bacons, the Sidneys, and other illustrious personages of her court, were members of this house.

The Chapel of is of modern erection. Likely enough, it was built on the site of the

Chauntry of Portpoole

The Chapel was an important institution in the olden time. All gentlemen of the Inn were ordered, in , to frequent it regularly at service-time, as well as at sermons, and to receive the communion every term yearly, if they were in commons or resided in the house. If they omitted to do so, they forfeited for every time they neglected to receive the communion; and if they did not receive it at least once a year, they were liable to be expelled.

The Library of the Inn was rebuilt and enlarged in -. It consists of handsome apartments, ceiled and wainscoted with oak. of these is appropriated to the benchers, and the larger rooms to the barristers and students of the society. In the principal room is a bust of Lord Bacon. The Library contains a complete series of reports, from the commencement of the yearbooks to the present day, with a large collection of valuable legal treatises and authorities.

The Inn was originally divided into courtsviz., Coney Court; , which lay to the south of the Hall; [extra_illustrations.2.555.1] , between and the shady Walks of the Inn; and , between Coney Court and the

[extra_illustrations.2.555.2] , form of the most interesting features connected with this learned region. In Charles II.'s time, and in the days of the and , Walks formed a fashionable promenade on pleasant summer evenings. As late as could obtain from this spot a delightful and uninterrupted view of the rising ground of Highgate and Hampstead.

had their principal entrance from by , then a fashionable locality-very unlike what it is now.

This spot,

was a favourite resort of the immortal Bacon during the period he resided in

Gray's Inn

. It appears, by the books of the society, that he planted the greater number of the elm-trees which still afford their refreshing shade; and also that he erected a summer-house on a small mound on the terrace, where it is not improbable that he often meditated, and passed his time in literary composition. From the circumstance of Lord Bacon dating his essays from his

Chambers in Graie's Inn,

it is not improbable that the charming essay in which he dwells so enthusiastically on the pleasure of a garden was composed in, and inspired by, the floral beauties of this his favourite haunt.

God Almighty,

he says,

first planted a garden; and, indeed, it is the purest of human pleasures. It is the greatest refreshment to the spirits of man, without which buildings and palaces are but gross handy-works.

And he adds,

Because the breath of flowers is far sweeter in the air--where it comes and goes like the warbling of music-than in the hand, therefore nothing is more fit for that delight than to know what be the flowers and plants that do best perfume the air.

As late as the year

1754

there was standing in

the Gardens

of

Gray's Inn

an octagonal seat, covered with a roof, which had been erected by Lord Bacon to the memory of his friend, Jeremiah Bettenham.

Howell, writing from Venice, , to a friend at , says,

I would I had you. here with a wish, and you would not desire in haste to be at

Gray's Inn

; though I hold your Walks to be the pleasantest place about London, and that you have there the choicest society.

Our often-quoted Pepys had an eye to the

choicest society,

Sir Roger de Coverley is mentioned by Addison as walking here on the terrace,

hemming twice or thrice to himself with great vigour, for he loves to clear his pipes in good air (to make use of his own phrase), and is not a little pleased with any

one

who takes notice of the strength which he still exerts in his morning hems.

In the old dramatists we not unfrequently come across Walks as a place of fashionable rendezvous. For example, in Dryden's -all () there is this reference to Walks:

Sir John Shallow:But where did you appoint to meet him?

Mrs. Millisent:In Gray's Inn Walks.

And in the , by Thomas (), Cheatly says:

He has

fifteen hundred pounds

a year, and his love is honourable too. Now, if your ladyship will be pleased to walk in

Gray's Inn

Walks with me, I will design it so that you shall see him, and he shall never know on't.

Walking in these Gardens, we may thus call up many old associations. In addition to those just mentioned, we may picture to ourselves how those trees once shaded from the hot summer sun young men who loitered here with Butler and Cleveland. We can imagine Mr. Palmer, of Gray's Inn-the ingenious mechanician-pacing up and down these broad Walks, considering the qualities of the last addition to his collection of

telescopes and mathematical instruments, choice pictures, and other curiosities;

became, in time, the resort of dangerous classes; expert pickpockets and plausible ring-droppers found easy prey there on crowded days; and there were so many meetings

Many a married barrister, long ago; had his wife and family residing with him within the precincts of the Inns of Court. When that was the case, the children must have been bound over to keep the peace, and the lady strictly forbidden, during business hours, to practise on the piano.

Under the trees of

Gray's Inn Gardens

,

may be seen

two

modest tenements, each of them comprising some

six

or

eight

rooms and a vestibule. At the present rime they are occupied as offices by legal practitioners; and many a day has passed since womanly skill decorated their windows with flowers and muslin curtains; but a certain venerable gentleman, to whom the writer of this page is indebted for much information about the lawyers of the last century, can remember when each of those cottages was inhabited by a barrister, his young wife, and

three

or

four

lovely children.

The origin of Gateway we may read of in the following extract from an old author of the beginning of the century:--

In this present age there hath been great cost bestowed therein upon faire buildings, and very lately the gentlemen of this House [

Gray's Inn

] purchased a Messuage and a Curtillage, scituate uppon the south side of this House, and thereuppon have erected a fayre Gate, and a Gate-house, for a more convenient and more honourable passage into the high street of

Holborn

, whereof this House stood in much neede; for the other former Gates were rather Posterns than Gates.

The celebrated bookseller, Jacob Tonson, had his shop here, within Gate, next . Here he published Addison's and from this place also he wrote the following letter to Pope :

Gray's Inn Gate, April 20th, 1706.

Sir,--

I have lately seen a pastoral of yours, in Mr. Walsh's and Congreve's hands, which is extremely fine, and is approved of by the best judges in poetry, I remember I have formerly seen you at my shop, and am sorry I did not improve my acquaintance with you. If you design your poem for the press, no person shall be more careful in the printing of it, nor no one can give greater encouragement to it than, sir, yours, &c.,

Jacob Tonson

Tonson was the son of Jacob Tonson, a barber-chirurgeon in . He was born in the year ; and by his father's will, which was executed , and proved in the following November, he and his elder brother, Richard, and their sisters, were each to receive the sum of on their attaining the age of --the money to be paid in Hall. On the , we find him bound apprentice for years to a bookseller called Thomas Basset, and on the , he was admitted a freeman of the Stationers' Company. His shop was in , very near , and was distinguished by the sign of the

Judge's head.

The successor of Tonson in the shop was another eminent bookseller, Thomas Osborne, who is oftener than once introduced in the Pope makes him contend for the prize among the booksellers, and prove the successful competitor:--

Osborne, through perfect modesty o'ercome,

Crowned with the jorden, walks contented home.

It has been confidently related with many embellishments, that Johnson

one

day knocked Osborne down in his shop with a folio, and put his foot upon his neck. The simple truth I had from Johnson himself-

Sir, he was impertinent to me, and I beat him; but it was not in his shop, it was in my own chamber.

Alms were distributed thrice a week at Gate, for the better relief of the poor in , in , the year of Elizabeth's reign. The alms consisted of the broken victuals of the Hall table. The butler was instructed to see that due consideration was had to the poorest sort of aged and impotent persons, and in case the panyer-man and under-cook should appropriate any of the said alms to themselves, they were allowed, by way of lessening the temptation, loaves a-piece. The panyer-man here mentioned was a waiter. The Inner Temple Hall waiters are still called --according to Mr. Timbs, from the who attended the Knights Templars.

Some of the orders for the government of are very curious--a remark, however, which might be applied to the regulations of all the other Inns. Let us notice a few of the more remarkable of these orders, as given by Herbert in his ().

At a , or meeting, held in the beginning

[extra_illustrations.2.557.1]  of the reign of King James, it was intimated to be the royal pleasure that none but gentlemen of descent should be admitted to the society. The names of all candidates were therefore ordered to be delivered to the Bench, that inquiries might be made as to their quality.

In the reign of Edward VI. it was ordered that double readers were to have in commons only servants, and single readers . If a reader was elected, and he refused to serve, he had to forfeit . For his trouble he was allowed thirtyfive shillings for a hogshead of wine, and he fared well also as regards venison. In Elizabeth ( Junii) the reader for that summer was allowed

for every week

ten

bucks, and no more.

reward for

thirty

bucks and

two

stags, which were to be equally divided between them.

To ensure the orderly management of the public table, many regulations were made. In there was a cupboard-agreement regarding Easter Day, from which we learn that the members who came to breakfast after service and communion were to have

eggs and green sauce

no calves'-heads were to be provided by the cook.

took meat by

strong hand

from such as should serve him, he was to be put out of commons ipso facto.

In the year of Elizabeth, the subject of dress was discussed, and an order was made

that every man of this society should frame and reform himself for the manner of his apparel, according to the proclamation then last set forth, and within the time therein limited; else not to be accounted of this house;

Hats were forbidden to be worn in the Hall at meal-time in Elizabeth, under a penalty of for each offence. In the gentlemen of the society were instructed not to come into the Hall with their hats, boots, or spurs, but with their caps, decently and orderly,

according to the ancient orders.

cannot, however, oppose fashion; and though the benchers might talk grandly, in their council-chamber, of its being frivolity, and issue instructions about wearing this, and not wearing that, it is to be feared they did not always get themselves attended to. Was it likely that handsome youngsters were going to make guys of themselves?

Even in the time of Elizabeth,

when authority was most anxious that utter barristers should, in matter of costume, maintain that reputation for

sadness

which is the proverbial characteristic of apprentices of the law, counsellors of various degrees were conspicuous through the town for brave attire. At

Gray's Inn

, Francis Bacon was not singular in loving rich clothes, and running into debt for satin and velvet, jewels and brocade, lace and feathers. Even of that contemner of frivolous men and vain pursuits, Edward Coke, biography assures us that the jewel of his mind was put into a fair-case--a beautiful body with a comely countenance: as case which he did wipe and keep clean, delighting in good clothes well worn; being wont to say that the outward neatness of our bodies might ne a monitor of purity to our souls.

Among other ancient constitutions of were the following:--That no officer of this house shall hold or enjoy his office longer than he shall keep himself sole and unmarried, excepting the steward, the chief butler, and the chief cook; that no fellow of the society stand with his back to the fire; that no fellow of the society make any rude noise in the hall at exercises, or at mealtime; that no fellow of the society, under the degree of an ancient, keep on his hat at readings or moots, or cases assigned; and that search be made every Term for lewd and dangerous persons, that no such be suffered to lodge in the house.

Mootings, or disputations, in the Inns of Court and Chancery have long been disused. Danby Pickering, Esq., of , was the last who voluntarily resumed them, but they were not of long continuance. Indeed, the course of legal education has greatly changed, and scarcely any of the ancient customs mentioned by authors are known, except as matters of curiosity.

The Inns of Court were, in the olden time, the scene of many joyous masques and revels, thus following the example set by the nobility in their castles and palaces. During the reigns of Henry VIII. and Elizabeth, masques, and other goodly

disguisings

grave and reverend Bench,

This Christmas was a goodly disguising played at

Gray's Inn

, which was compiled by John Roo, serjeantat-the- law,

twenty

year past, and long before the cardinal had any authority. This play was so set forth with rich and costly apparel, and with strange devices of masks and morrishes, that it was highly praised of all men, except by the cardinal, who imagined that the play had been devised of him. In a great fury he sent for Master Roo, and took

Gray's Inn Gardens.

from him his coif, and sent him to the Fleet; and afterwards he sent for the young gentlemen that played in the play, and highly rebuked and threatened them, and sent

one

of them, called Master Moyle, of Kent, to the Fleet; but, by means of friends, Master Roo and he were delivered at last. This play sore displeased the cardinal, and yet it was never meant for him, wherefore many wise men grudged to see him take it so to heart.

Perhaps Roo, when he wrote his comedy, did not intend any special reference to Wolsey. It seems, however, that the performers were aware that the cardinal would likely take it home to himself. We learn as much from Fox's notice, in his of a Mr. Simon Fish, of the gentlemen who acted in the piece.

That the presentation of plays was a customary feature of the festivities at , we may infer from a passage from Dugdale, in his notes on this society. He says :--

In

4

Edward VI. (

November 17

) it was also ordered that henceforth there should be no comedies, called interludes, in this house out of Term time but when the feast of the Nativity of our Lord is solemnly observed. And that when there shall be any such comedies, then all the society at that time in commons, to bear the charge of the apparel.

The Prince of Purpoole's revel at , in , was a costly entertainment, and, in point of riotous excess, not inferior to any similar festivity in the time of Elizabeth.

On the 20th of De- Barnard's Inn. cember(St. Thomas's Eve) the prince (one Master Henry Holmes, a Norfolk gentleman) took up his quarters in the Great Hall of the Inn, and by the 3rd of January the grandeur and comicality of his proceedings had created so much talk throughout the town, that the Lord Treasurer, Burghley, the Earls of Cumberland, Essex, Shrewsbury, and Westmoreland; the Lords Buckhurst, Windsor, Sheffield, Compton; and a magnificent array of knights and ladies, visited Gray's Inn Hall on that day, and saw the masque which the revellers put upon the stage. After the masque there was a banquet, which was followed by a ball. On the day after, the prince, attended by eighty gentlemen of Gray's Inn and the Temple (each of them wearing a plume on his head), dined in state with the Lord Mayor and aldermen of the city, at Crosby Place. The frolic continued for many days more, the royal Purpoole, on one occasion, visiting Blackwall with a splendid retinue; on another, (Twelfth Night) receiving a gallant assembly of lords, ladies, and knights at his court in Gray's Inn; and on a third (Shrovetide) visiting the Queen herself, at Greenwich, when Her Majesty warmly applauded the masque set before her by the actors who were members of the prince's court,

So delighted was Elizabeth with the entertainment, that she graciously allowed the masquers to kiss her right hand, and loudly extolled Gray's Inn as an house she was much indebted to, for it did always study for some sport to present unto her; whilst to the mock prince she showed her favour by placing in his hand the jewel (set with seventeen diamonds and fourteen rubies) which he had won by valour and skill in a tournament which formed part of the Shrovetide sports.

When the Prince of Purpoole kept his court at on this occasion, we are told that his champion rode into the dining-hall upon the back of a fiery charger, which, like the rider, was clothed in a panoply of steel.

In the gentlemen of , in company with those of the other Inns of Court, acted in a great masque at , given in honour of the marriage of the Princess Elizabeth to the Count Palatine. To cover the expense of this display an assessment was made of from each reader; the ancients paying , the barristers , and the students apiece.

The society of took an active part in the gorgeous masque which we have described as starting from Ely Place at Allhallowtide, (see p. .). of the representatives of , on that occasion, was a Mr. Read, whom all the women, and some of the men, pronounced

as handsome a man as the Duke of Buckingham.

Mr. May,

of

Gray's Inn

, a fine poet-he who translated Lucan-came athwart my Lord Chamberlain in the banqueting-house, and he broke his staff across his shoulders, not knowing who he was. The king was present, who knew him, for he calls him his poet, and told the Chamberlain of it, who sent for him next morning, and fairly excused himself to him, and gave him

fifty pounds

in pieces.

memorable simpleton

The students of the Inns were never the quietest members of the community. Among the disturbances of is mentioned by Pepys in his Diary, :--

Great talk of how the barristers and students of

Gray's Inn

rose in rebellion against the benchers the other day, who outlawed them; a great to-do; but now they are at peace again.

A few years later we find them up in arms again; but this time their strength is turned against outsiders, and not expended in hitting each other hard knocks. When building operations commenced in Fields, and the country about began to give place to streets and squares, the legal fraternity, anxious to preserve the rural character of their neighbourhood, were greatly displeased. Lawyers, it is true, were the earliest householders, but that did not serve to mend the matter. Under date of , Narcissus Luttrell wrote in his Diary:

Dr. Barebone, the great builder, having some time since bought the Red Lyon Fields, near Graie's Inn Walks, to build on, and having, for that purpose, employed severall workmen to goe on with the same, the gentlemen of Graie's Inn took notice of it, and thinking it an injury to them, went with a considerable body of a

hundred

persons; upon which the workmen assaulted the gentlemen, and flung bricks at them. So a sharp engagement ensued, but the gentlemen routed them at last, and brought away

one

or

two

of the workmen to Graie's Inn. In this skirmish

one

or

two

of the gentlemen and servants of the house were hurt, and severall of the workmen.

The various eminent members of the Inn now claim our notice. Sir William Gascoigne, whose name is familiar to all, was of the lawyers of the olden time connected with this house. He was reader here till , in which year he was called to the degree of King's Serjeant-at-law. About years afterwards he was made Chief Justice of the King's Bench. His death took place on the . For his integrity as a judge, as well as for his private virtues, he deserves to be ever held in remembrance.

He distinguished himself on many occasions, particularly in refusing to pass sentence on Archbishop Scroop as a traitor, though commanded to do so by the king; and still more by committing the [extra_illustrations.2.561.1] , to prison for contempt of court. This latter incident suggested to Shakespeare of his most effective scenes.

Here is the account given by of our old chroniclers of the Prince's committal to prison.

It happened,

that a servant of Prince Henry, afterwards the

fifth

English king of that Christian name, was arraigned before this judge, Sir William Gascoigne, for felony, whom the Prince, then present, endeavoured to take away, coming up in such fury that the beholders believed he would have stricken the judge. But he, sitting without moving, according to the majesty he represented, committed the Prince prisoner to the King's Bench, there to remain until the pleasure of the Prince's father were further known. Who, when he heard thereof by some pickthank courtier, who probably expected a contrary return, gave God thanks for His infinite goodness, who at the same instant had given him a judge who could administer and a son who could obey justice.

Happy am I, that have a man so bold

That dares do justice on my proper son;

And not less happy, having such a son

That would deliver up his greatness so

Into the hands of justice.

It is a fine scene in Shakespeare's (Part II., v. ), where the future conqueror of Agincourt, after his accession to the throne, meets the independent judge-

King.You are right, Justice, and you weigh this well; Therefore still bear the balance and the sword; And I do wish your honours may increase, Till you do live to see a son of mine Offend you and obey you, as I did. You did commit me: For which, I do commit into your hand The unstained sword that you have used to bear, With this remembrance, that you use the same With the like bold, just, and impartial spirit As you have done 'gainst me.

Thomas Cromwell, afterwards Earl of Essex, a conspicuous enough individual in his day, and also kept in remembrance by Shakespeare, was another member of this Inn. He was a man of humble origin, and owed his rise in life to his having been admitted, into the household of Cardinal Wolsey. He is said to have acted as law adviser to the Cardinal, who recognised his abilities, rewarded his devotion, and left him a parting counsel

Oh, Cromwell, Cromwell,

Had I but served my God with half the zeal

I served my king, he would not in my age

Have left me naked to mine enemies.

Cromwell was admitted of in . years afterwards he was of the ancients of the society, and in he was raised to the offices of Secretary to the Privy Council Chancellor of the University of Cambridge, Master of the Rolls, and Lord Privy Seal. The new doctrines in religion, it was well known, had his sympathy and support.

Bishop Gardiner.Do I not know you for a favourer Of. this new sect? Ye are not sound. Cromwell.Not sound? Gardiner.Not sound I say, Cromwell.Would you were half so honest. Men's prayers then would see you, not their fears, Gardiner.I shall remember this bold language. Cromwell.Do; Remember your bold life too.--Henry VIII., v. I.

His successful career did not last long. As often happens, wealth and honour created envious enemies: the clergy, too, viewed him with hatred, and to the nobility he was odious on account of his mean extraction. He fell into disfavour with King Henry, and on the , was committed to prison. He was impeached before Parliament, the articles accusing him of being

the most false and corrupt traitor and deceiver that had been known in that reign;

detestable heretic,

innumerable sums of money and treasure by oppression, bribery, and extortion.

[extra_illustrations.2.561.2] , was another eminent member of whom can boast. He entered at in .

Whether this removal to

Gray's Inn

,

were for the purpose of his being bred wholly up to the profession of the law, we are not able to say, since it was no unusual thing in those days for young men of family and talents, who had any prospect of becoming members of the legislature, to go through a course of law at some

one

of our Inns of Court, in order to become better acquainted with the laws and constitution of their country. It was regarded, indeed, as almost a necessary qualification.

An anecdote of Burleigh's Gray's-Inn days, as quaintly related by his old historian, may afford the reader some gratification.

A mad companion having enticed him to play, in a short time he lost all his money, bedding, and books to his companion, having never used play before. And being afterwards among his other company, he told them how such a

one

had misled him, saying he would presently have a device to be even with him. And with a long trouke he made a hole in the wall, near his playfellow's bedhead, and in a fearful voice spake thus through the trouke :--

O mortal man, repent! repent of thy horrid time consumed in play, cozenage, and lewdness, or else thou art damned and canst not be saved!

Which being spoken at midnight, when he was all alone, so amazed him, as drove him into a sweat for fear. Most penitent and heavy, the next day, in presence of the youths, he told with trembling what a fearful voice spake to him at midnight, vowing never to play again; and calling for Mr. Cecil, asked him forgiveness on his knees, and restored him all his money, bedding, and books. So

two

gamesters were both reclaimed with this merry device, and never played more. Many other the like merry jests I have heard him tell, too long to be here noted.

Who Burleigh's

playfellows

were,

nowhere appears, but the future statesman himself was a married man during the greater part of his sojourn at

Gray's Inn

, and ought to have been more steady than to stake his

books and bedding,

after losing his money. However, from many memoranda of

Gray's Inn

which have come down to our time, it would seem that the students of this society were rather an unruly set.

The most distinguished writer on the laws of England who flourished in the century was Anthony Fitzherbert, Lord Chief Justice of the Court of Common Pleas in the reign of Henry VIII. He once filled the office of reader in .

His books

are monuments which will longer continue his memory than the flat blue stone in Norbury Church, under which he lieth interred.

that he be so provided for, that he never have any power, jurisdiction, or authority, hereafter to trouble, vex, and impoverish the Commonwealth of this your realm, as he hath done heretofore, to the great hurt and damage of almost every man, high and low.

We have already referred to Simon Fish, a student of this inn, who, for taking part in a masque supposed to satirise Wolsey, had to fly the kingdom, in . During his residence in Germany, he composed a work called attacking the monastic orders in England. It was shown by Anne Boleyn to Henry VIII., who was so pleased with it, as falling in with his projects of plunder, that he not only permitted the return of the author to his native land, but took him under his protection. Fish did not long enjoy his good fortune; he died in .

Passing from him, however, we come to much more celebrated members of our inn. Sir Nicholas Bacon, Lord Keeper of the Great Seal of England during the greater part of Elizabeth's reign, kept his terms here. In the year he was admitted a student of ; in he rose to the degree of ancient in the society, and in was created a bencher.

Sir Nicholas Bacon had much of that penetrating genius, solidity of judgment, persuasive eloquence, and comprehensive knowledge of law and equity, which afterwards shone forth with so great a lustre in his son, who was, it has been remarked,

as much inferior to his father, in point of prudence and integrity, as his father was to him in literary accomplishments.

Towards the end of his life he became very corpulent, which gave occasion to Elizabeth to make a jest once:

Sir Nicholas's soul lodged well,

But the name of which, above all others, is proud, is that of Francis Lord Bacon, the youngest son of Sir Nicholas Bacon. This great man's history is well known, so we shall not repeat it, but content ourselves with recording the dates of his admission as a student here, and of his various degrees in the society. He was admitted in ; became ancient, ; became barrister, ; became bencher, ; became reader, , and was duplex reader in .

The errors and foibles of this great man were, no doubt, exaggerated by the malice of his enemies, and they have died with him; but his writings will exercise an influence for good on mankind as long as our language lasts; and his

name and memory,

to foreign nations and to his own countrymen, after some time passed over,

After his downfall, when he had parted with York House, he resided again at his old chambers at , whence, in , he went day, with his physician, towards Highgate, to take the

It occurred to Bacon to inquire if flesh might not be preserved in snow as well as in salt. Pulling up at a small cottage, near the foot of Highgate Hill, he bought a hen from an old dame, plucked and drew it, gathered up snow in his palms, and stuffed it into the fowl.

Francis Bacon's progress from to , on the , has been described by many writers,. who, however widely they differ in estimating the moral worth of the new Lord Keeper, concur in celebrating the gorgeousness of his pageant:--

On the

first

day of Trinity Term,

May 7th

,

he rode from

Gray's Inn

, which he had not yet left, to

Westminster

Hall, to open the courts in state, all London turning out to do him honour, the queen sending the lords of her household, Prince Charles the whole of his followers--the lords of the council, the judges, and serjeants composing his immediate train. On his right hand rode the Lord Treasurer, on his left the Lord Privy Seal, behind them a long procession of earls and barons, knights and gentlemen. Every

one

, says George Gerard, who could procure a horse and a footcloth fell into the train, so that more than

200

horsemen rode behind him, through crowds of citizens and apprentice boys from Cheap, of players from

Bankside

, of the Puritan hearers of Burgess, through the open courts of

Whitehall

, and by

King Street

into

Palace Yard

. He wore on that day, as he had worn on his bridal day, a suit of purple satin. Alighting at the gates of

Westminster

Hall, and passing into the Court, he took his seat on the bench; when the company had entered, and the criers commanded silence, he addressed them on his intention to reform the rules and practices of the court.

Lord Bacon's chambers,

were in No.

1

, Coney Court, which formerly stood on the site of the present row of buildings at the west side of

Gray's Inn Square

, adjoining the gardens. The whole of Coney Court was burnt down by a fire which occurred in the inn about the year

1678

.

can boast of having had as of its members the patriotic and honest Welsh judge, David Jenkins. He was a famous champion of the royal cause, and in the most troublous time of England's history displayed undaunted courage and unbending devotion to his lawful sovereign. He was admitted a student of in the year , was called to the Bar in , and on the , was advanced to the degree of ancient in this house. In the discharge of his official duty he imprisoned and condemned several persons bearing arms against King Charles. For this the parliamentarians, laid violent hands upon him, and on Monday, , the keeper of Newgate brought Judge Jenkins, described as

Mr. David Jenkins, judge in Wales, now a prisoner in that gaole,

that they had no power to try him, and at the bar, and in the open house, gave very contemptuous words and reproaches against the Houses and power of Parliament. He threatened Parliament with the king's numerous issue, with divers other reproachful words, such as the like were never offered in the face of a parliament. After he came out of the House, he put off his hat, and spake to this effect before the soldiers of the guard and divers gentleman at the doore:

Gentlemen, God bless you all, protect the laws of the kingdom!

His carriage was declared to be a high contempt and misdemeanour, and he was ordered to be fined and sent back to Newgate. When in prison expected daily to be hanged, and formed the original resolution of being suspended from the gallows-tree with a bible under arm and Magna Charta under the other. It never came to that, however; and Judge Jenkins escaped with his life.

Bradshaw, who sat as president at the trial of Charles I., was a bencher of . He was

a stout man,

and learned in his profession; no friend to monarchy.

Sir Thomas Holt was once Treasurer of , and his son, who became Lord Chief Justice, was entered upon the society's books before he was years old. Lord Chief Justice Holt is

a reputation for learning, honour, and integrity, which has never been surpassed even among the many eminent individuals who have succeeded him in his dignified office.

There is a sketch of the character of Lord Chief Justice Holt in the number of the .

It would become all men as well as me,

to lay before them the noble character of Verus the magistrate, who always sat in triumph over, and contempt of vice; he never searched after it or spared it when it came before him. At the same time he could see through the hypocrisy and disguise of those who have no pretence to virtue themselves, but by their severity to the vicious. This same Verus was, in times past, Chief Justice, as we call it in Felicia (

Britain

). He was a man of profound knowledge of the laws of his country, and as just an observer of them in his own person. He considered justice as a cardinal virtue, not as a trade for maintenance. Wherever he was judge, he never forgot that he was also counsel. The criminal before him was always sure he stood before his country, and, in a sort, a parent of it; the prisoner knew that, though his spirit was broken with guilt, and incapable of language to defend itself, all would be gathered from him which could conduce to his safety; and that his judge would wrest no law to destroy him, nor conceal any that could save him.

The following story concerning this eminent judge has appeared in many books of anecdote: --A party of the guards was once ordered from

Suppose, sir,

let us suppose that the populace should not disperse on your appearance, or at your command?

Our orders are then to fire upon them.

Then mark, sir, what I say. If there should be a man killed in consequence of such orders, and you are tried before me for murder, I will take care that you and every soldier of your party shall be hanged. Return to those who sent you, and tell them that no officer of mine shall accompany soldiers; the laws of this kingdom are not to be executed by the sword. This affair belongs to the civil power, and soldiers have nothing to do here.

This story,

Book about Lawyers,

is very ridiculous, but it points to an interesting and significant event. Of course it is incredible that Holt said,

the laws of this kingdom are not to be executed by the sword.

He was too sound a constitutional lawyer to hold that military force could not be lawfully used in quelling civil insurrection. The interesting fact is this: On the occasion of a riot in

Holborn

, Holt was formally required, as the supreme conservator of the king's peace, to aid the military; and instead of converting a street row into a massacre, he prevailed upon the mob to disperse, without shedding a single drop of blood. Declining to co-operate with soldiers on an unarmed multitude, he discharged the ancient functions of his office with words, instead of sabres--with grave counsels, instead of cruel violence. Under similar circumstances, Chief Justice Odo would have clad himself in mail, and crushed the rabble beneath the feet of his war-horse. At such a summons George Jeffreys, having fortified himself with a magnum of claret and a pint of strong water, would have accompanied the king's guards, and with noisy oaths would have bade them give the rascals a taste of

cold steel. Wearing his judicial robes, and sustained by the majesty of the law, William III.'s chief justice preserved the peace without sacrificing life.

Sir Samuel Romilly, the celebrated English lawyer and M.P. for , was a member of . As a student he seems to have had no anticipation of the brilliancy of his future career. We find him writing despondingly to a friend, in --

I sometimes lose all courage, and wonder what fond opinion of my talents could ever have induced me to venture on so bold an undertaking; but it often happens (and I fear it has been in my case) that men mistake the desire for the ability of acting some distinguished part.

[extra_illustrations.2.553.1] Gray's Inn

[extra_illustrations.2.554.1] The Hall of the Inn

[extra_illustrations.2.555.1] Field Court

[extra_illustrations.2.555.2] Gray's Inn Walks, or Gray's Inn Gardens

[extra_illustrations.2.557.1] Marriot-Gray's Inn Cormorant

[extra_illustrations.2.561.1] Prince of Wales afterwards Henry V.

[extra_illustrations.2.561.2] William Cecil, Lord Burleigh