INNS OF COURT 285 



some row of houses on the north ; since which the above 

 summer-house has been levelled, and many trees cut 

 down to lay the Garden more open." The view, even 

 then, was fairly open, as Sir Samuel Romilly, in 1780, 

 complains of the cold, as there was "only one row 

 of houses" between him and Hampstead, and "a north- 

 west wind blows full against" his chambers. This 

 " most gallant prospect into the country, and its 

 beautiful walks" were the great attractions of these 

 Gardens. They appear to have been one of the most 

 fashionable walks, especially on Sundays. Pepys^ was 

 frequently there, and his diary records, several times, 

 that he went to morning church, then had dmner, 

 then to church again, and after went for a walk 

 in Gray's Inn. That he met there "great store of 

 gallants," or " saw many beauties," is the usual comment 

 after a visit. On one occasion, he took his wife there 

 to "observe the fashions of the ladies," because she 

 was "making some clothes." The walks and trees 

 are redolent with associations, and the Gardens, though 

 curtailed, have much the same appearance as of yore. 

 When a portion of the ground was sacrificed to the 

 new buildings, those who loved the Garden deeply 

 bewailed. "Those accursed Verulam Buildings," wrote 

 Charles Lamb, recalling his early walks in Gray's Inn 

 Gardens, "had not encroached upon all the east side 

 of them, cutting out delicate green crankles, and 

 shouldering away one of two stately alcoves of the 

 terrace. The survivor stands gaping and relationless, 

 as if it remembered its brother. They are still the 

 best gardens of any of the Inns of Court— my beloved 

 Temple not forgotten — have the gravest character, 

 their aspect being altogether reserved and law-breathing. 



