The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1867-06-25


the master of the Revels," nor ''young
limbs of the law'' make the welldn ring
indeed, and "rouse the night owl In catch |
that would draw three souls from one weaver"
still the honorable profession keep alive
the spirit and sooiability of their order in
these old halls. In the halls of the Inner and
Middle Temple, dinner is prepared for the
members every day during term time; the
Masters Of the Bench dining on the elevated
platform at the farther end of the halls, while
the barristers and students line the long tables
extending down the sides of the room. To pro-
cure admission to either Of these Inns, the stu
dent must obtain the certificate of two barris-
ters of the Middle Temple, with that of a
Bencher, to the effect that the applicant is a
fit person to be received into the Inn, for the
purpose of being called to the bar. Once adj
initted the student has the use of the library,
and is entitled to seat in the church or chapel
of the Inn, and to have his name set down for
chambers He is required to keep Commons
by dining in the hall for twelve terms (four
terms in each year,, on commencing which he
must deposit with the treasurer f10O, to be
retained with interest until he is called. (Mem-
bers of the universities are exempt.) The
student must also give bond for the payment
of common and term fees. No person can be
called unless he is above twenty-one years of
age, and of three years. standing as a student.
The call is made by the Benchers in council
after which the student becomes barrister,
ana taxes Ln6 Oubns III certain OLO6T luuS,
however, believe the student must, before
his call, attend certain lectures, which
are a revival Of the old readings without their
festivities. A hall dinner is formal scene.
At 5, or half-past O'Clock, the barristers stu
dents, and other members in their gowns,
assemble in the hall; the Benchers pass in
procession to the dais, the steward strikes the
table three times, grace is said by the trea-
surer, or senior Bencher present, and the din
ner commences. The Benchers observe some
what more style at their table than the others.
The usual repast is soup, joint of meat, a
tart, a cheese, and bottle of port wine, to
each mess consisting of four persons At the
Inner Temple on the 9th of May, gold cup
of sack is handed to each member, who drinks
to the happy restoration of Charles the Second.
At Grey's Inn similar custom prevails, but
the toast is to the memory of Queen Elizabeth.
The Inns of Court are four, viz, the Inner and
Middle Temple Lincoln's Inn, and Gray's Inn.
Then come the Inns of Chancery, attached
only by name to the parent Inns. On gala
days the attendance is larger, and occasionally
the Judges dine in succession with each of the
four inns. The Hall of the Inner Temple is,
believe, the largest, as it is the most magnif-
| cent in its interior decorations. Its fine win
| dows are adorned with the arms of the most
| distinguished members of the Inn. Here amid
| the blaze of heraldic devices, you may read the
names of Cowper, Thurlow, Dunning, Eldon,
Blackstone, Stowell, Hardwick, and Somers.
| This hall is upwards of one hundred feet long,
| forty wide and sixty in height. Nothing can
| surpass the splendid effect of the emblazonry
| on these windows, the elaborate carving of
the woodwork, and the grand old portraits
| (some of them vertable Vandykes) that look
| down upon you from the venerable walls
| The strong oaken tables, that extend the
| entire length of the hall are the same at which
| those noble spirits of the sixteenth century
dined, and where all those venerated forms of
| fhafT cfxIaa fIn fhn1n Of
the Temple" once had place. This noble hall
has other memories besides those invoked
| by the stern features of the luminaries of
the law that frown down upon you in
your walk. Here was performed Shake
speare's IiOelfh Night, in 1901, and
doubtless 'the myriad minded one," the i'm
mortal author, participated. The hall of the
Inner Temple is somewhat similar to the one
we have described, and is graced with full
length portraits of Coke and Littleton,
and an emblematc Pegasus, by Sir James
Thornhill. The face of LittletOn is by no
means striking, hardly intellectual; skin of
the hue of the parchments over which he
pored, while the eyes have lack-lustre look,
and the brow is low and villanous. That of
his commentator, however, honest, imperious,
malignant, incorruptible Coke, the savage pro-
secutor of Somerset and Raleigh but the bold
defender of the liberties of his country, is the
countenance of handsome, highly intellec-
tual man. No public character in English
history, perhaps, has ever been assailed as has
Coke; but imperious as he often was, hector
ing and abusive as he sometimes appeared
in the practice of his profession,
his enemies dare not call in question
the lofty courage with which he defended the
rights of his countrymen against the assaults
of prerogative. He alone, the world mustever
remember, of all the judges of England, dis
dained to succumb to the arbitrary and indie
cent interference of pedantic sovereign. The
judges had been long regarded as in some de-
gree bound, by virtue of their offices as royal
counsellors, to justify the acts of the Crown,
however arbitrary. Coke despised this degra-
dation, and, despite all persecution, proclaimed
and established the independence of the
English bench.
These halls, in earlier days, were the
scenes of the celebrated readings. These Inns
originally consisted of three bodies-the Bench
ers, the utter barristers, and the inner barris-
ters; the last being the students, the second a
body more advanced, and chosen from the stu
dents, while from these again were chosen the
Benchers or governing body.
The name barrister is in all probability de-
rived from the bar that separated the upper
I part of the hall (raised on a dais) from the
lower. Here the students congregated as lis
teners, at meetings or readings. The readings
took place twice in every year, and We're
{ marked by great solemnity. The reader.
having selected some statute rected the
3 doubts which had arisen, or might arise,
/ concerning it, and ended by a declaration Of
ms own judgment. The utter barrister de-
Dated the matter generally, and to conclude
' tne serJeants and judges gave their opinions
some OF the mOst Trofou,,d i,,dio;o1