The Helena independent. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1891-05-03
LONDON INNS OF COURT.
Passing of the Old Time Schools
!. and Homes Of the English
Barristers.
Occasionally State Dinners Are
Held and Quaint Customs
Are Observed.
Lawyers In London Called "The Deyil's
Own"-Life mt an Inn-Nota BILE
HAbitues.
Especial Correspondence of The INDEPENDENT.

Especial Correspondence of The INDEPENDENT |
LONDON, April 19.-The devils own-as
barristers and lawyers are called in Lon
don-are being gradually ousted from the
inns of court, as far as residence is con-
eelned.- The inns are same of the most in
teresting haunts in London. King Edward
]. ordered that settled places for "apt and
eager" students of the law should be placed
in proximity to the courts of law. The
"hostels," being nurseries or seminaries
of the court, were therefore called
inns" of court. The students not
only became learned in the law and divin-
ity, but were taught how to dance. sing
and perform on musical instruments in the
inns. Revels were constantly being held in
them, even up to 1734, and history records
that Shakespeare's Twelfth Night was first
performed in the Middle Temple in Feb
ruary, 1901. There are four inns of court:
1) Lincoln's inn, to which were attached
Furnivals inn and Thavie's inn. (2) Mid
die Temple, with New inn. (3) Gray's inn,
with Staple inn and Barnard's inn.
lhSlO Wfh dlSO otiptdllbS Lii cAClVblVGly
for sergeants until 1877, hen the society
gave up the ghost and the title sergeant
for lawyer was abolished. Thavie's and
Furnival's inns also now have no legal
standing. Americans will recall the visit q
few years ago of the late Sergeant Ballan-
tyne.
Each of the four inns is governed by
benchers, a self-electing body of bar
risters of standing; each supports q
chapel, the Inner and Middle Temple
going halves in the temple church, which
WIS built by the way on the model of the
church of the Holy Sepulchre at Jerusalem.
In the oiden days the Benchers looked after
the dress, manners and morals of the in
habitants; nowadays. tho only things &c
remind us of the past is the obligation on
law students to eat certain number of
dinners i'll the grand old halls, and the
locking of the gates at night.
There are state dinners every now and
again, and quaint customs are observed.
For instance. at Gray's Inn. which lies
north of Holbofn, there is always a toast
Ito the glorious. pious, and immortal mem
Dry of Queen Elizabeth.' AS the Benchers
in their official capacity are rolling in
riches. and do not know what to do with the
money, the dinners are marvels of cheapness
and of lair quality. Any man who likes tc
live in somsthing II little better than ordi.
than flat, can now live in the Inns oi
court, provided, of course. that there are
vacant rOoma. In the temple, men not
belonging to the legal profession have little
chance, and in the other inns the prefer
ence is given to "the DEVILS Own" Blu;
for all that, whenever the opportunity
offers. laymen q, taking rooms in the inns.
Waa1thV hEnchars w ho ara hnpI,e!nra rn-
tired colonial judges and the like. live in
the temple, some paying as much AZ $500
i. year rent. In the other inns are hangers
on to the skirts of the professions, men liv-
ing on allowances who have expectations,
and such folk rs Journalists, dramatists
and actors. who love to llya in quietness
and peace in the midst of noise
and hustle. The rooms are very old
fashioned. and you can shut out
your fellow men bv sporting your oak" as
it is termed. I he doors are double, and
when the outer one is closed it is not eti-
quette to disturb the inmate. Absolute
privacy is thus secured, and it is possible i'll
Gray's inn. Clements inn, or the temple to
imagine oneself in the heart of the country.
The grass in the square is fresh and green.
the trees cast grateful shade, the fountain
is playing; yet in a moment you can step
into tho Strand or Holborn and become be-
wildered by the rush and roar of traffic.
Rents range from $40 Upwards per annum
for from one to three rooms. An invaluable
person is the INN laundress. You have
to pay her from two dolls. to three dolls.
rs cents a week. The "laundress' is the
only title given in the inns to the good
woman, generally porter's wife, who
lights your fire in the mornings, pre-:
pales your eggs and bacon, and will,
if desired, cook your chop for dinner.
Those who are acquainted with Mr..
a-fss Inv !,
idea OF life i'll the inns. 1t is Il not very
much exaggerated picture. I.adies-genu-
inc, not "ieal''-are seldom Seen in the inns,
EXCEPT, perhaps, at afterrn III tea-time: but
there aie few married men who sha,e
their rooms with their wives.
The chief charm about the old inn is
their literary favor. Charles Dickens
"P,chwieh" there 'Ha spent "Ii the "dpst drst
few years of his married life with
in its walls. and it was the birthplace of
his eldest son. He sketches his rooms i'll
Martin Chuzzlewit." With Gray's inn arc
associated the names of Lord Bncon. Samuel
Butler, Samuel Johnson, Mncaulay, Shir-
ley, Philip Sidney and Southey. Lincoln's
inn can boast of its connection with
William Penn and Colman pere.
Cover and Chaucer and Beaumont,
the dramhtlst, were Inner Temple men, and
it was in Lincoln's inn that the poet Cow
per was crossed III love and attempted
suicide. The poet was also con-
nected with the Middle temple, the riches t
OF al! in literary associations: tor it has on
its roll of fame Burke, Congseve, De Quin-
cey, Field ng. Thomas Moore, Sheridan.
and Wycherley. Lamb WAS born Crown
Office Row, Temple. and was more or less
associated with the classic precincts all his
life: SO. too, We're Goldsmith and DIR. John
son before him, the latter being buried in
the Temple church yard. Tradition con
meets Sir Walter Raleigh with the place,
although he declares he never learnt n line
of law in his life.
1t will not be many years now before the
old inns of court will be II thingof the past
Already the Hausmannslng yandal of mod
crn London has his eye on the quaint old
courts, with their cohWebby housea and
building ever &c many stoned flats, with
electric lights and elevators and all the lin
de steele Improvements. One by one these
old landmarks OF London that are identified
with the history of England are beng swept
away. and now few remain that iii any way
app, oach the old inns in point of interest.
! he nineteenth century Earrister looks for
comfort first ami antiquity bt erwards. / he
new Law Courts, which are inuiit right OPP
posite the temple, seem to look with dis
dnim on their old and time stained com
panion across the way, and they will have
To 20. Temple bar has gone long ago, and
IL ~ their rurn now.
But before they go II IL to be hoped that