Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 13.djvu/100

90 INNS OF COURT the present day, has been the scene of numerous historic incidents, notably the entertainments given within its walls to regal and other personages from Queen Elizabeth downwards. The library, which now contains 28,000 volumes, dates its origin from 1641, when Robert Ashley, a member of the society, bequeathed his collection of books in all classes of literature to the inn, together with a large sum of money ; other benefactors were Ashmole (the antiquary), William Petyt (a benefactor of the Inner Temple), and Lord Stowell. From 1711 to 1826 the library was greatly neglected ; few works were added either by presentation or purchase, and many of the most scarce and valuable were lost. The present handsome library building, which stands apart from the hall, was completed in 1861, the Prince of Wales attending the inauguration ceremony on October 31st of that year, and becoming a member and bencher of the society on the occasion. The MSS. in the collection are few in number, and of no special value. In civil, canon, and inter national law, as also in divinity and ecclesiastical history, the library is very rich ; it contains also some curious works on witch craft and demonology. There is but one Inn of Chancery connected with the Middle Temple, that of New Inn, which, according to Dugdale, was formed by a society of students previously settled at St George s Inn, situated near St Sepulchre s Church without New gate ; but the date of this transfer is not known. Lincoln s Inn stands on the site partly of an episcopal palace erected in the time of Henry III. by Ralph Nevill, bishop of Chi- chester and chancellor of England, and partly of a religious house, called Black Friars House, in Holborn. In the reign of Edward II., Henry Lacy, earl of Lincoln, possessed the place, which from him acquired the name of Lincoln s Inn, probably becoming an Inn 01 Court soon after his death (in 1310), though of its existence as a place of legal study there is little authentic record until the time of Henry VI. (1424), to which date the existing muniments reach back. The fee simple of the inn would appear, however, to have remained vested in the see of Chichester ; and it was not until 1580 that the society which for centuries had occupied the inn as tenants acquired the absolute ownership of it. The old hall, built about 1506, still remains (and is temporarily iised as one of the courts of the High Court of Justice), but has given place to a modern structure designed by Philip Hard wick, R.A., which, along with the buildings containing the library, was completed in 1845, the Queen attending the inauguration ceremony (October 13). The chapel, built after the designs of Inigo Jones, was consecrated in 1623. The library as a collection of law books the most complete in the country -owes its foundation to a bequest of John Nethersale, a member of the society, in 1497, and is the oldest of the existing libraries in the metropolis. Various entries in the records of the inn relate to the library, and notably in 1608, when an effort was made to extend the collection, and the first appoint ment of a master of the library (an office now held in annual rota tion by each bencher) was made. The library has been much enriched by donations and by the acquisition by purchase of collec tions of books on special subjects. It includes also an extensive and valuable series of MSS., the whole comprehending 43,000 volumes. The Inns of Chancery affiliated to Lincoln s Inn are Thavic s Inn and Furnival s Inn. Thavic s Inn was a residence of students of the law in the time of Edward III., and is mentioned by Fortescue as having been one of the lesser houses of Lincoln s Inn for some centuries. It thus continued down to 1769, when the inn was sold by the benchers, and thenceforth it ceased to have any character as a place of legal education. Furnival s Inn became the resort of students about the year 1406, and was purchased by the society of Lincoln s Inn in 1547. In 1817 the inn was rebuilt, but from that date it has ceased to exist as a legal community. There is no reason to suppose that Gray s Inn is of less anti quity than the other Inns of Court. The exact date of its be coming the residence of lawyers is not known, though it was so occupied before the year 1370, and there is abundant evidence of its existence as an Inn of Court after that date. The inn stands upon the site of the manor of Portpoole, belonging in ancient times to the dean and chapter of St Paul s, but subsequently the property of the noble family of Grey de Wilton and eventually of the crown, from which a grant of the manor or inn was obtained, many years since discharged from any rent or payment. The hall of the inn is of handsome design, similar to the Middle Temple hall in its general character and arrangements, and was completed about the year 1560. The chapel, of much earlier date than the hall, has, notwithstanding its antiquity, but little now to recommend it to notice, being small and insignificant, and lacking architectural features of any kind. The library, including about 13,000 volumes, contains a small but important collection of MSS. and missals, and also some valuable works on divinity. Little is known of the origin or early history of the library, though mention is incidentally made of it in the society s records in the 16th and 17th centuries. The gardens, laid out about 1597, it is believed under the auspices of the lord chancellor Bacon, at that time treasurer of the society, continue to this day as then planned, though with some curtailment owing to the erection of additional buildings, in recent years. Among many curious customs maintained in this inn is that of drinking a toast on grand days "to the glorious, pious, and immortal memory of Queen Elizabeth." Of the special circum stances originating this display of loyalty there is no record. The Inns of Chancery connected with Gray s Inn are Staple s and Barnard s Inns. Staples Inn was an Inn of Chancery in the reign of Henry V., and is probably of yet earlier. date. Readings and moots were observed here with regularity. Sir Simonds d Ewes mentions attending a moot in February 1624. Barnard s Inn, anciently designated Mackworth Inn, was an Inn of Chancery in the reign of Henry VI. It was then and still is held of the dean and chapter of Lincoln, to whom a fine of 1400 is payable every fourteen years. The King s Inns, Dullin, the legal school in Ireland, corresponds closely to the English Inns of Court, and is in many respects in unison with them in its regulations with regard to the admission of students into the society, and to the degree of barrister-at-law, as also in the scope of the examinations enforced, though no final examination is now required for call to the bar. Of the twelve terms required to be kept, however, by a student, four must be spent at an Inn of Court in London, admission to which is obtained in the usual manner, but exempt from stamp duty, on the certificate of the under treasurer that such duty has been paid in Ireland. Until lately two years were required to be thus passed in London,- the stipulation dating as far back as 1542 (33 Henry VIII. c. 3). Down to 1866 the course of education pursued at the King s Inns differed from the English Inns of Court in that candidates for admission to the legal profession as attorneys and solicitors carried on their studies with those aspiring to the higher grade of the bar in the same building under a professor specially appointed for this purpose, herein following the usage anciently prevailing in the Inns of Chancery in London, which, as has already been stated, has long since fallen into desuetude. This arrangement was put an end to by the statute 29 & 30 Viet. c. 84. The origin of the King s Inns may be traced back to the reign of Edward I., when a legal society designated Collett s Inn was established ; but, being situated without the walls of the city, the inn was destroyed by an insurrectionary band. In the reign of Edward III. Sir Robert Preston, chief baron of the exchequer, gave up his residence within the city to the legal body, which then took the name of Preston s Inn, where for two centuries the study of the law was pursued and a collegiate discipline maintained. In 1542 the land and buildings known as Preston s Inn were restored to the family of the original donor, and in the same year Henry VIII. granted the monastery of Friars Preachers for the use of the professors of the law in Ireland. In consequence of this grant the legal body removed to the new site, and thenceforward were known by the name of the King s Inns. Possession of this property having been resumed by the Government in the middle of the last century (1742), and the present Four Courts erected thereon, a large space of ground at the top of Henrietta Street was purchased by the society, and the existing hall built in the year 1800. The library, numbering over 50,000 volumes, with a few MSS., is housed in buildings specially provided in the year 1831, and is open, not only to the members of the society, but also to strangers upon proper introduction. The collection is not entirely legal, but comprises all kinds of literature. It is based principally upon a purchase made in 1787 of the large and valuable library of Mr Justice Robinson, and is maintained chiefly by an annual payment made from the Consolidated Fund to the society in lieu of the right to receive copyright works which was conferred by the Act of 1801 (41 George III. c. 107), but abrogated in 1836 (6 & 7 Will. IV. c. 107), In discipline and professional etiquette the members of the bar in Ireland differ but little from their English brethren. The same style of costume is enforced, the same gradations of rank