These discussions were strictly legal, and the proceedings were conducted as nearly as possible in like manner to those of the Courts themselves. "About the end of the 17th century," says Lord Campbell, "Mootes fell into disuse, and they have now entirely ceased." It is in such institutions as these Inns of Court and other similar communities, that the old feudal feeling respecting ancient servitors has been retained in much of its pristine integrity. Many of the old servants and inferior officers of Grays Inn may be said to belong to the place by right of descent. They were born within its precincts, they have been trained beneath the shadows of its old walls. In their youth they began their course of serving under the guidance of father, or grandfather, and now, in their old age, have in their turns some post of trust and responsibility confided to them. There is something especially delightful and heart-stirring in the service of gray-headed men who have passed their lives in the same place, serving the same masters. Shakespeare felt this, when, in describing old Adam in _As You Like It_, he makes the old man say: Master, go on, and I will follow thee, To the last gasp, with love and loyalty. Most of the old servitors in Gray's Inn are well-educated, well-informed men, and are in general fully acquainted with the histories, traditions, and quaint biographies connected with the ancient Courts wherein their lives have been passed. The chief objects of their pride and affection, are of course the Benchers. For the Benchers they entertain the profound reverence that so powerful a body of learned men is entitled to expect, and this respect is mingled at the same time with the affectionate solicitude that old servants have for kind and esteemed masters. They feel a great interest in the students, although they regard them for the most part as wild young fellows, promising, no doubt, but still far from possessing the talents of former generations of lawyers. They will sometimes, indeed, shake their heads dolefully over the degeneracy of young men of to-day, when compared with the youth of the celebrated personages, whose names adorn the walls of the great hall. Respecting the old buildings and old customs of the Inn they love to dilate for the hour together, and even the rooks come in for a share of their affection, and also for a considerable amount of anxiety, for this venerable community shows alarming symptoms of decay, the aërial colony having sadly diminished of late years. In vain has the welfare of the infant progeny been tenderly watched over, latterly many unnatural parent rooks appear to have taken a dislike to their own offspring, and in that case peck the little ones to death without thought of parental duty.