Lincoln's Inn: Sir Thomas More

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W. J. Loftie, adding to the incomplete work of Sir Walter Besant, in The Fascination of London, published in 1903, mentions Sir Thomas More as an eminent member of Lincoln's Inn:

Adjoining the hall, the library and a reading-room, which as first built were calculated to enhance the dignity of the hall, were soon found to be too small.

Sir Gilbert Scott was called in to add to them.

The delicate proportions of Hardwick suffered in the process, the younger architect having evidently thought more of the details, as was the fashion of his school.

The additions were carried out in 1873, and the library is now 130 feet long, but shuts out a large part of the view northward through the gardens.

It is believed that Ben Jonson worked here as a bricklayer, and we are told by Fuller that he had a trowel in his hand and a book in his pocket.

Aubrey says his mother had married a bricklayer, and that he was sent to Cambridge by a bencher who heard him repeating Homer as he worked.

Of actual members of eminence, Lincoln's Inn numbers almost as many as the Inner Temple.

Sir Thomas More (1478 - 1535) among these comes first, but his father, who was a Judge, should be named with him.

The handsome Lord Keeper Egerton, ancestor of so many eminent holders of the Bridgwater title, belonged to Lincoln's Inn during the reign of Elizabeth.

The second Lord Protector, Richard Cromwell, was a student here in 1647, and Lenthall, his contemporary, was Reader.

A little later Sir Matthew Hale, whose father had also been a member, was of this inn, and became Chief Justice in 1671.

The first Earl of Mansfield was a barrister of Lincoln's Inn, and four or five Lords Chancellor in a row, including Bathurst, Campbell, St. Leonards, and Brougham.

From the antiquarian or the picturesque point of view Lincoln's Inn is not so fascinating as the two Temples.

It looks rather frowning from Chancery Lane, where it rises against the western sky.

The old hall and the chapel are rather curious than beautiful, and cannot compare with Middle Temple Hall or the Church of the Knights.

The fine buildings which overlook the gardens and trees of Lincoln's Inn Fields owe much to their open situation.

The Stone Buildings where they look on the green turf of the garden are really magnificent, but they stand back from the public gaze, and are but seldom seen by the casual visitor.

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