the society for many years. With regard to
the functions of the society there "appeared"
to be none. A member or an ancient had only
to do with the property, being elected to that
combined dignity before a conveyance was
made to him. With regard to the numbers of
these dignitaries the witness said, plaintively,
"There are only two of us left now." There
were no fines, no dues of any kind, the only
payment made being seven pounds thirteen
shillings and fourpence (per annum it is to
be presumed) to the Inner Temple for a
reader; but there has been no reader since
1832. He never remembered a reader there.
On consideration, however, the witness modified
this statement, and added, "I think there was
a reader there in 1815. I think I was at home
from school, and attended with my father once;
that is the only one I can recollect to have heard
of." There was a hall. The witness was sure
of that fact. But the members never met in it.
It was opened only for the use of debating
societies. There was a steward, and also a
collector, the latter of whom collected the rents
of the chambers, which were private property.
The rents were received by the two ancients,
who paid no rents themselves. There were no
pupils or students. He had heard of dinners
of the ancients in the hall, but thought that
must have been as much as a hundred years
ago. There was a kitchen attached to the hall,
he was certain of that; but he had never heard
of a library. Returning to the subject of the
reader, he said he had heard his father say that the
functionary, whom he thought he remembered as
a boy, "burlesqued the thing so greatly" that, the
ancients were disgusted, and never asked for a
successor. The greatest number of ancients
whom he remembered was five. They were
solicitors, like himself, but he did not think it
was necessary for an agent to be connected
with the law. Except the sum paid to the
Temple, he knew of no disbursement in
connexion with that profession; and he thought
that the money paid to the Temple led to the
inference that there had been legal instruction.
But his father's "impression" was that the
property was private. He knew of no record of an
original grant. His father, he said, incidentally,
died worth a great deal of property in the inn.

Of New Inn we have a much more intelligible
account. Mr. Samuel Brown Jackson, attorney
and solicitor, gave an actual statement of the
present constitution of that society. It consists,
he said, of four tables. The "Head Table," as
it is called, is composed of the treasurer and
ancients, the one being elected from the general
body of the other. The next table is called the
"Round Table." There is a third table called
the "First Mess," and another table called the
"Long Table." The latter is for persons who
are simply members of the society. Members
must hold chambers, and ought to be proprietors
of chambers, but the rule is not strictly adhered
to. Each member pays a fee of five guineas to
the steward, of which three pounds five shillings
is for stamps, and enters into a bond to the
society. The steward receives the rents on the
part of the ancients, who are trustees. The
property is held under the Middle Temple, by a
lease for three hundred years, dating from
Midsummer, 1744, upon payment of a rent of four
pounds a year. There are some conditions and
trusts in the lease, one of which is that the
ancients allow the Middle Temple to hold readings
in the hall. The readings, however, ceased
in 1846, the witness "believed" in consequence
of the Middle Temple not continuing to send a
reader. The lectures, when delivered, amounted
to only five or six in the course of the year.
The society has not now any provision for legal
education of any kind. The witness knew
nothing of any ancient documents throwing light
upon the original constitution of the body.
What documents there may be are "supposed"
to be in the custody of the treasurer. There is
no present source of income except the rents of
chambers, which amount to eighteen hundred
pounds or nineteen hundred pounds a year.
The members are supplied with commons in hall
by the society, during term, at a rate of
payment less than the cost incurred. The nominal
distinction of the four tables has ceased to exist
in practice. The ancients dine at the round
table, and the two lower messes are merged in
one. The ancients have no duties except the
administration of the funds. When elected,
they have a set of chambers assigned them, for
which they pay; and they enjoy the advantage
of having the cost of their dinners defrayed
from the funds of the society.

It does not appear from the above that the
cause of legal education gains much more from
the active conviviality of New Inn than from
the "cold obstruction" of the departed Lyons.
Let us see how Clement's Inn assists. Mr.
Thomas Gregory, the steward of that society,
described its constitution. It consists, he said,
of a principal and an unlimited number of
ancients and commoners, all solicitors. The
principal and agents sit at the upper, the
commoners at the lower, table; and the
superior rank is recruited from the inferior,
as occasion may require. The usual number at
the upper table was nine, with the principal,
and of commoners there were only six. The
latter body have no privileges in the society
except that of dining in hall, and paying for
their dinners. What the privileges of the
ancients are the witness could not say, except
that they have the trouble of managing the
inn. The society possesses no property but the
chambers and the hall, which they hold in fee
simple under trustees, among whom are
several of the judges and vice-chancellors. The
ancients have to qualify by buying a set of
chambers, which they may sell again if the
permission be endorsed on the lease. The income of
the society, without the rent of chambers, is
one thousand five hundred pounds a year. The
contributions of the ancients average about
twenty-five pounds a year. The funds are
spent in repairing the inn, which is very old,
and parts of it require renewing from time to