all, the library and a reading-room, which as first built
were calculated to enhance the dignity of the hall, were soon found to
be too small. Sir Gilbert Scott was called in to add to them. The
delicate proportions of Hardwick suffered in the process, the younger
architect having evidently thought more of the details, as was the
fashion of his school. The additions were carried out in 1873, and the
library is now 130 feet long, but shuts out a large part of the view
northward through the gardens. It is believed that Ben Jonson worked
here as a bricklayer, and we are told by Fuller that he had a trowel in
his hand and a book in his pocket. Aubrey says his mother had married a
bricklayer, and that he was sent to Cambridge by a bencher who heard him
repeating Homer as he worked. Of actual members of eminence, Lincoln's
Inn numbers almost as many as the Inner Temple. Sir Thomas More among
these comes first, but his father, who was a Judge, should be named with
him. The handsome Lord Keeper Egerton, ancestor of so many eminent
holders of the Bridgwater title, belonged to Lincoln's Inn during the
reign of Elizabeth. The second Lord Protector, Richard Cromwell, was a
student here in 1647, and Lenthall, his contemporary, was Reader. A
little later Sir Matthew Hale, whose father had also been a member, was
of this inn, and became Chief Justice in 1671. The first Earl of
Mansfield was a barrister of Lincoln's Inn, and four or five Lords
Chancellor in a row, including Bathurst, Campbell, St. Leonards, and
Brougham.

From the antiquarian or the picturesque point of view Lincoln's Inn is
not so fascinating as the two Temples. It looks rather frowning from
Chancery Lane, where it rises against the western sky. The old hall and
the chapel are rather curious than beautiful, and cannot compare with
Middle Temple Hall or the Church of the Knights. The fine buildings
which overlook the gardens and trees of Lincoln's Inn Fields owe much to
their open situation. The Stone Buildings where they look on the green
turf of the garden are really magnificent, but they stand back from the
public gaze, and are but seldom seen by the casual visitor.

CHANCERY LANE.

Strype says the Lane "received the name of Chancellor's Lane in the time
of Edward I. The way was so foul and miry that John le Breton, Custos of
London, and the Bishop of Chichester, kept bars with staples across it
to prevent carts from passing. The roadway was repaired in the reig