524.- L o N'. 
for the judges and fecjeants of the law, and contain¬ 
ing chambers only for the accommodation of thefe gen¬ 
tlemen ; whereas, in that in Fleet-ftreet, each one polleHed 
a diftintt houfe. The degree of a ferjeant being the 
higheft in the law, except that of a judge, it is conferred, 
by the fovereign, on thofe of the profelfion molt eminently 
diftinguilhed for their abilities and probity; and this or¬ 
der is held fo honourable, that none are admitted to the 
dignity of a judge but the members of it. According 
to the opinion of fome of our ableft lawyers, among whom 
may be named fir Edward Coke, this degree is of very an¬ 
cient handing; and it is exprefsly mentioned in hat. 3 
Edw. I. c. 29. See the article Inns of Court, vol. xi. 
p. 76, 84. 
We have now reached Chancery-lane, the opening of 
which from Fleet-ftreet has received of late very material 
improvements. Several over-fhadowing houfes have been 
taken down; and, when a few more on the eaft of the 
lane, belonging to Serjeants’ inn, fhall be rebuilt in a bet¬ 
ter way, this third communication from Fleet-ftreet to 
Holborn will be ftill more frequented and more airy. In 
this lane we find the Rolls Chapel, and oppofite Rolls 
Buildings.'—The Rolls Chapel is the place for keeping the 
rolls, or records in chancery. This houfe was founded by 
king Henry III. in the place where ftood a Jew’s houfe, 
feized upon by that prince in the year 1233. In this cha¬ 
pel all fuch Jews and infidels as were converted to the 
Chriftian faith were ordained, and in the buildings be¬ 
longing to it were appointed a fufficient maintenance; by 
which means a great number of converts were baptized, 
inltruCted in the dottrines of Chriftianity, and lived un¬ 
der a learned Chriftian appointed to govern them; but, in 
the year 1290, all the Jews being baniflied, the number of 
converts decreafed ; and, in the year 1377, the houfe, with 
its chapel, was annexed by patent to the keeper of the 
rolls of chancery. The chapel, which is of brick, peb¬ 
bles, and fome free-ftone, is fixty feet long, and thirty- 
three in breadth ; the doors and windows are gothic, and 
the roof covered with fiate. In this chapel the rolls are 
kept in prefles fixed to the fides, and ornamented with co¬ 
lumns and pilafters of the Ionic and Compofite orders. 
Thefe rolls contain all the records, as charters, patents, 
&c. fince the beginning of the reign of Richard III. 
thofe before that time being depofited in the record-office 
in the Tower; and, thele being made up in rolls of 
parchment, gave occafion to the name. At the north- 
weft angle of this chapel is a bench, where the mailer of 
the rolls hears caufes in chancery ; and attendance is 
given in this chapel, from ten o’clock till twelve, for tak¬ 
ing in and paying out money, according to order of court, 
and forgiving an opportunity to thofe who come for that 
purpofe to fearch the rolls. The minilter of the chapel is 
appointed by the mailer of the rolls; and divine fervice 
is performed there on Sundays and holidays, at eleven and 
three. On the walls are feveral old monuments; particu¬ 
larly at the eaft end is that of Dr. Young, matter of the 
rolls, who died in the year 1556 : on a well-wrought (tone 
coffin lies the effigy of the dottor in a fcarlet gown ; his 
hands lie acrofs upon his breaft, and a cap with corners 
covers his ears : on the wall, jult above him, our Saviour 
is'looking down upon him, his head and Ihoulders appear¬ 
ing out of the clouds, accompanied by two angels. 
The office of the ro Isis under the governmentof the maf- 
ter of the rolls, whale houfe is by the chapel. The place of 
matter of the rolls is an office of great dignity, and is in the 
gift of the king, either for life or during pteafure. He is 
always the principal matter in chancery, and has in his gilt 
the office of the fix clerks in chancery, of the two exami¬ 
ners of the fame court, and of the clerk of the chapel of 
the rolls, who acts immediately under him in that office. 
He has feveral revenues belonging to the office of the rolls ; 
and, by ait of parliament, receives a falary of twelve hun¬ 
dred pounds per annum out of the hanaper. 
Nearly oppofite to the Rolls chapel, is the main accefs 
to that noble and long-celebrated place called Lincoln’s 
D O N. 
Inn, of which we have fpoken very much at large under 
the article Inns of Court, vol, xi. p. 78-82. fo that we' 
can only add a few remarks which have occurred to us on 
our prefen t furvey. 
The chapel (fee p. 80) was built by Inigo Jones, about 
the year 1622, on pillars, with an ambulatory, or walk, 
underneath, paved with broad (tones, and ufed as a place 
of interment for the benchers. The outfide of this cha¬ 
pel is a very indifferent fpecimen of Gothic architecture, 
and the windows are painted with the figures, at full length, 
of the principal perfonages mentioned in the fcriptures.^On 
the twelve windows on the north fide, are Abraham, Mo¬ 
tes, Eli, David, and the prophets Daniel, Ifaiah, Jeremiah, 
Ezekiel, Amos, and Zechariah, with John the Baptift 
and St. Paul; and on the iouth fide are the reft of the 
apoftles. Under thefe figures are the arms of a great num¬ 
ber of gentlemen belonging to this fociety; a molt pre- 
pofterous union of facred worthies with modern heraldry. 
In faCt, the whole does but little honour to Inigo Jones; 
and does not even retain any mark of what it wa3 the 
faftiion to call hisJlyle > 
In fpeaking of the hall, p. 80. we noticed Hogarth’s 
picture of St. Paul before Felix. To the painting of this 
picture belongs an anecdote which the reader will not be 
difpleafed with, as it proves that our great artift endea¬ 
voured to reprefent the moft evanefcent objects in the 
fleeting actions of man.—He had nearly finifhed this pic¬ 
ture, in which he intended to difplay all the powers of his 
mind; and we know that they were greater than even 
his powers of execution. A friend of his was admitted 
to fee the progrefs of the work; and, after examining the 
whole and the details, faid ; “Well, my dear fir, I am 
fure, when the whole is complete, this will be what you ex¬ 
pert it to be, your belt work, and the admiration of the 
world.”—“Complete!” replied Hogarth with a fuddeu 
fluth on his face, “ complete f Why—it is complete now— 
What do you want more? I anv fure it is as complete as 
I can make it.”-—The vifitor fmiled, and hummed, and 
fmattered moft diffidently ; “ I mean Amply this ; that when, 
for inftance, you have finifhed the hands of Felik, all 
then will be done.”—“Now,” faid the painter, “I do 
clearly underhand you—that is, I underhand that you do 
not underhand nature—for lookliere;” and then (to imi¬ 
tate the trembling of Felix) he put both his hands into 
fuch a quick and quivering agitation that they ceafed to 
be feen. “Now 1 ,” added he triumphantly, “ I have painted 
motion .'"—However the fallacy of his hypothelis was foon 
made fo clear to him, that he conuefeended to put at the 
ends of Felix’s arms the hands we now fee in the picture. 
Sets of chambers in the Stone Buildings, the moft mo¬ 
dern and elegant part of Lincoln’s Inn, let for from fifty- 
guineas to 120I. per annum, and fell for from 35o 1. to 
2500I. they are held for 99 years certain from 1780, on 
three lives, with the privilege of nominating a fourth life 
after the death of thofe three.—In the Oid Buildings* 
chambers let from 25I. per annum, to Sol. and fell from 
200I. to ioool. They are held for the life of one member 
of the fociety ; but on payment of a f’niall fine they may¬ 
be transferred.—Thole buildings denominated the Neiv 
Square are fee-fimple, and entitle the owners to a vote for 
the county. Thele let from 40I. to 100 guineas per an¬ 
num, and are occupied by folicitors, conveyancers, and 
fpecial pleaders, frequently to the exclusion of the mem¬ 
bers of the inn ; they .fell from 350I. up to 2500I. per 
double fet. All thefe chambers pay 4I. 2s. annually to 
the fociety. 
Lineoln’s-inn Fields, as it is fometimes called, is the 
moft extentive fquare in the metropolis, or perhaps in 
Europe, the area containing not lets than ten acres. This 
fpacious fquare is fituated north-weft oi the inn, between 
the fouth fide of Holborn and the north fide of Portugal- 
ftreet. The fides of it, within the railing, are the exact 
meafure of the bale of the greateft pyramid of Egypt. 
The area of this lquare is formed into grals plats and gra¬ 
vel walks rand the whole is encompalfed with an iron pa-. 
3 blade 
