zed by the
rioters, books and parchments were carried away and fed to bonfires, and
it was the intention of the rebels to destroy the precinct and the lawyers
together, for thus, they said, they would obliterate both unjust laws and
corrupt law-makers. The "No-Popery" rioters in 1780 marched to attack the
Temple, but were awed into flight by the apparently determined front
presented by the lawyers and students, who were really in desperate fear
themselves. Street-fights with the lawless Alsatians of the adjoining
Whitefriars region were at one time frequent.[B] In 1553, and again in
1669, the mayor of the city essayed to "pass through the cloisters with
drawn sword." The Temple claimed immunity from civic control, and on both
occasions the mayor's weapon was beaten down and a bloody affray resulted.
An appeal growing out of this event was made to Charles II. by Heneage
Finch in behalf of the Temple, but the question is still unsettled. Hence
the modern Templars close their gates at ten o'clock every night, and when
the "charity children" of the adjacent parishes "beat the bounds" on
Ascension Day, redouble their vigilance. The rich rental of the property
pays no local taxes, though repeated efforts have been made to assess it.

[Footnote B: Salisbury Court, Whitefriars, enjoyed for centuries the
privilege of a sanctuary--at first for criminals, but finally for debtors
only--until 1697, when it was abolished by royal warrant. It was nicknamed
"Alsatia," in imitation of the frontier province of the same name, which
was long a cause of contention and familiarly known to English soldiers in
the long Continental wars. As Cunningham observes, "In the Temple students
were trying to keep the law, and in Alsatia, adjoining, debtors to avoid
and violate it. The Alsatians were troublesome neighbors to the Templars,
and the Templars as troublesome neighbors to the Alsatians."]

In 1666 the Great Fire of London burnt its way westward as far as the
Temple. After consuming several sets of chambers and a quantity of
title-deeds to many valuable estates, the course of the flames was stayed
just east of the Temple Church. But in 1678-79, in the mouth of January, a
large area was burned over. The fire lasted from midnight till noon of the
ensuing day. Pump Court, Vine Court, part of Brick Court, Elm-Tree Court,
Hare Court, part of Middle Temple Hall, a portion of Inner Temple Hall,
and the old cloisters, were swept away. The season was rem