of the subsequently famous "Elia" chased butterflies across the velvety
sward. "The Temple Garden," says Mr. Walter Thornbury, "has probably been
a garden from the time the white-robed Templars first came from Holborn
and settled by the river-side." It covers an expanse of three acres, and
its gay flower-beds, umbrageous trees, and emerald turf make it a
veritable oasis to the inhabitants, and especially to the children, of
that corner of the great metropolis. A pillar sundial in the centre of the
grass bears the date 1770, and the iron gate, surmounted by a winged horse,
which guards the entrance from the terrace, was erected in 1730. East of
the sundial is a hoary old sycamore, sole survivor of three sisters,
carefully protected by railings, under whose grateful shade, says local
tradition, Johnson and Goldsmith were wont to chat. In the Middle Temple
Garden stands a venerable catalpa-tree, planted by Sir Matthew Hale, "one
of the most eminent of lawyers and excellent of men." The scene in "King
Henry the Sixth,"[A] where the partisans of the rival houses of Lancaster
and York assume the distinctive badges of the white and red rose, is laid
in the Temple Garden. "Toward evening," says Dr. Dibdin, "it was the
fashion for the leading counsel to promenade during the summer months in
the Temple Gardens. Cocked hats and ruffles, with satin small-clothes, at
that time constituted the usual evening dress." Anciently, the "moots"
were held on the terrace of the Garden at five of the clock in the long
summer evenings.

[Footnote A: Part I., act 2, scene 4.]

The great hall of the Middle Temple is one of the finest Elizabethan
structures in the metropolis. It was commenced in 1562, when the old hall
was converted into chambers, consumed a decade in building, and is of
grand proportions. It is a hundred feet long, and the massive beauty of
the glossy oaken roof, almost black with age, is alone worth an Atlantic