in. A very ancient groined Gothic arch forms the roof of the
present buttery, and in the apartment beyond there is a fine groined and
vaulted ceiling. In the cellars below are old walls of vast thickness,
part of an ancient window, a curious fire-place, and some pointed
arches, all now choked with modern brick partitions and dusty
staircases. These vaults formerly communicated by a cloister with the
chapel of St. Anne, on the south side of the church. In the reign of
James I. some brick chambers, three storeys high, were erected over the
cloister, but were burnt down in 1678. In 1681 the cloister chambers
were again rebuilt.

During the formation of the present new entrance to the Temple by the
church at the bottom of Inner Temple Lane, when some old houses were
removed, the masons came on a strong ancient wall of chalk and ragstone,
supposed to have been the ancient northern boundary of the convent.

Let us cull a few Temple anecdotes from various ages:--

In November, 1819, Erskine, in the House of Lords, speaking upon Lord
Lansdowne's motion for an inquiry into the state of the country,
condemned the conduct of the yeomanry at the "Manchester massacre." "By
an ordinary display of spirit and resolution," observed the brilliant
egotist to his brother peers (who were so impressed by his complacent
volubility and good-humoured self-esteem, that they were for the moment
ready to take him at his own valuation), "insurrection may be repressed
without violating the law or the constitution. In the riots of 1780,
when the mob were preparing to attack the house of Lord Mansfield, I
offered to defend it with a small military force; but this offer was
unluckily rejected. Afterwards, being in the Temple when the rioters
were preparing to force the gate and had fired several times, I went to
the gate, opened it, and showed them a field-piece, which I was prepared
to discharge in case the attack was persisted in. They were daunted,
fell back, and dispersed."

Judge Burrough (says Mr. Jeaffreson, in his "Law and Lawyers") used to
relate that when the Gordon Rioters besieged the Temple he and a strong
body of barristers, headed by a sergeant of the Guards, were stationed
in Inner Temple Lane, and that, having complete confidence in the
strength of their massive gate, they spoke bravely of their desire to be
fighting on the other side. At length the gate was forced. The lawyers
fell into confusion and were about to beat a retreat, w