m what are called parliaments of the society, which are usually held twice every term. Of old, no student could be called to the bar, before he had been examined as to his learning and abilities by the whole body of benchers, and had performed various grand and petty mootings; but now these ceremonies are dispensed with, and any student who has attended commons for a stated number of terms in the course of five years, is entitled to demand a call to the bar. The benchers, however, still retain the power of refusing the call to any student, against whom they may conceive a prejudice, and in some instances are supposed to have exercised this right rather invidiously. At commons, there are three degrees of tables, one for the benchers, a second for barristers, and a third for students. Formerly they cut their meat on slices of bread, and drank out of wooden trenchers and green earthen jugs.

Members of these societies, though required to attend at commons, need not be resident; and many of those by whom the chambers are occupied are solicitors and private gentlemen, who have no connection with either of the houses.

St. Mary's Church.

The early history of this venerable fabric is enveloped in obscurity. Weever in his Funeral Monuments,' on the credit, as he states, of British story,' refers to a tradition of the Temple having been one of those originally founded by Dunwallo Mulmutius, as a place of refuge and sanctuary for thieves and other offenders, about the year of the world 4748; and Dunwallo himself, with other British kings, is reported to have been buried here. This, however, is only traditional; the authentic history of the church can be traced to as early a period as 1185, in which year it was dedicated in honour of the blessed Virgin, by Heraclius, patriarch of Jerusalem; who, at the above time, was entertained by the knights templars, whilst on a mission from pope Lucius III. to Henry II. in order to invite that monarch to ascend the throne of Jerusalem.

This edifice narrowly escaped destruction in the great fire of 1666; in 1682 it was repaired and beautified, and a curious wainзcot screen was set up. In 1695, the south western part, which had suffered by fire, was rebuilt. It has been since that time par

tially repaired in various parts; the last and most extensive was in the years 1826 and 1827, under the direction of R. Smirke, esq.

The plan of this church, as represented in the preceding page, exhibits two distinct portions of buildings. The westernmost consists of the ancient circular church, formerly insulated, and constituting the only church of the extraordinary militant churchmen by whom it was created. The castern portion is a long square, made in breadth into three aisles by two ranges of pillars, four in each range. In the centre of the outer circular wall of the western pile of building is a magnificent receding semicircular arched doorway; the various mouldings springing from pillars with capitals approaching to the Corinthian order, the intervals between which are filled with mouldings of the zig-zag and lozenge varieties; near the jamb are small costumic statues, supposed to represent king Henry II. and his queen; the whole is in fine preservation and presents a magnificent specimen of Norman architecture; it owes its present state to the protection it receives from the porch of pointed architecture in front of it, which, although less ancient than the building, probably succeeded to an older porch. In the wall south of this porch are three lofty roundheaded windows, the archivolt mouldings springing from columns attached to the jambs with elegant capitals; the easternmost has a freshness almost unequalled, owing to the circumstance of their being concealed for years by an attached chapel hid behind buildings in former times, and destroyed in 1825. The piers between the windows are occupied by buttresses, and the elevation is finished with a block cornice and parapet; nearly the whole of this side had been built after a fire in 1685, by sir Christopher Wren, in the Italian style; it has recently been restored under the directions of R. Smirke, esq. and a doorway with a Doric frontispiece walled up. An inscription on the parapet records these repairs as follows:

HVJVSCE EDIS SACRÆ

PARTEM AVSTRALEM SIBI

PROPRIAM

RESTITVI CVRAVIT

INTERIORIS TEMPLI HOSPITVVM
JOHANNE GVRNEY ARMIGERO

THESAVRARIO

MDCCCXXVII.

The northern side is nearly concealed by adjacent houses. The circular clerestory contains windows assimilating with the aisle, but of a subordinate character; like the lower portion, it has been partially restored, and a block cornice and parapet substituted for the former battlements. The chapel which stood on the south side was an addition to the original plan; it was a curious specimen of architecture, in two stories, the lower in the same style as the circular church, the upper the lancet architecture of the portion now to be described. The eastern church is united to the other par+

already particularized at the eastern portion; this has been restored, and its gables, one of which rises above every aisle are finished with crosses. In the north eastern angle is an attached octangular staircase turret. The south side has recently been restored in Bath stone; it is made into five divisions by well proportioned buttresses, each division containing a handsome triple lancet window, the central rising above the others; the archivolts are moulded and spring from columns attached to the jambs; the elevation finishes with a block cornice and parapet. The east front is in three divisions, also made by buttresses, containing in like manner lancet windows; the ashlaring is modern, having been restored with Portland stone in 1756; the points of the gables which correspond with the western front are crowned with urns; the north side, which abuts on a burying-ground, resembles the southern already described, it retains many of its original features, and has only been repaired in brick work. The annexed engraving shews a south west view of the church as repaired by Mr. Smirke in 1826. By the late alterations a passage has been formed from the west side of the church to the court on the south side. The circular part of the church on the south side now appears in its original state.

The interior displays one of the most interesting specimens of architecture in the country; the circular church forms a vestibule to the other, and its area is unincnmbered; in the centre is a peristyle of six clusters of columns with leaved capitals, from which spring the same number of acutely pointed arches, forming a circular aisle; round the entire building, above the points of the arches, is a second story, consisting of an arcade of small intersecting circular arches, with openings at intervals to the vault over the aisles; the upper or clerestory is composed of six round headed windows, the arehivolts resting on columns, from the inner column, of every main cluster rises a smaller column to the roof, sustain ing on their capitals transom ribs, which severally unite in a common centre ornamented with a boss; the dado of the windows in the aisles has a series of stalls above a continued scat; the arches are pointed and spring from columns with exceedingly curious capitals; on the spandrils of every arch a singular grotesque head. The entire of the ancient work has been wantonly destroyed at the last repair for the sake of restoring the same with modern stone work, although no pretence of decay in the old work existed as an excuse. On the south side was a door leading to the curious chapel destroyed at the last repair, and in the sill of one of the windows on the same side, is a repetition of the same inscription as on the exterior. The roof of the aisle is strongly vaulted with stone and filled in with chalk; the ribs spring from the main cluster and from corresponding pillars attached to the side walls. Above the great doorway is a closed up circular window, and below it is a stone with the following modern copy in Saxon capitals of an ancient inscription discovered and destroyed in 1695: