“Then, on your way west, stay at Somerset House, where there is a certain wreathed and domed room I wot of which will repay you for a somewhat toilsome ascent up a fine staircase. This gallery was built by Chambers for the use of the Academy (you will recollect Ramberg’s picture, engraved by Martin, of a Private View here in 1787), and Reynolds has been here before you, and here he delivered his Discourses; and all the great men and women of the first half of the century have passed over this threshold, including the famous Dr. Parr, who tells how he came in the Princess of Wales’s train.” [Illustration: THE FOUNTAIN, MIDDLE TEMPLE.] Ever new and welcome are the charming gardens and squares of the two Temple Inns, so charmingly irregular in their disposition. The peaceful tranquillity of the region is extraordinary; one could wander there for an hour, gazing across the fair grounds at the glistening Thames, which bounds this view, and the barges and steamers slowly gliding past. The straggling diversity of the buildings, old and new mingled together, is not unpleasing, to [Illustration: FOUNTAIN COURT, TEMPLE.] say nothing of the arcades, the stately halls, libraries, and the fortress-like church. The well-known, prettily-named “Fountain Court” has its reputation for picturesqueness--has been sketched by Dickens with a true feeling of its charm--the fountain, ever rippling softly, with the terrace and the few old trees shading the old red brick, in a Dutch-like fashion, is truly unique. We love the various old courts and meandering passages. “Brick Court,” where poor “Goldy” had his rooms. The hall here is magnificent and imposing, and its elaborate roof second only to that of Westminster Hall and Hampton Court Banqueting Room. [Illustration: HALL AND LIBRARY, GRAY’S INN.] As we stray on and on we come to one of the most quaint and attractive residences conceivable, the residence of Dr. Vaughan, the Master of the Temple, with its pleasing garden in front raised on a terrace, its green _jalousies_, and general rural air, though its rear is but a few yards from the Strand. Those who relish genuine old English houses, well framed and overhanging the path, will wander here into the Temple Lane, on turning out of the Strand. Curious are the dark and somewhat crazy twisting stairs. Many years ago there was yet another row of these ancient houses standing, among which were Dr. Johnson’s chambers; the door-case and its frame were actually sold by auction by Messrs. Puttick. The ponderous gate-house is said to be the design of Inigo Jones. The _soi-disant_ Cardinal Wolsey’s palace is a curious relic enough, more curious still from being now in the hands of an enterprising hairdresser. Without admitting its lofty claims, the carvings and wrought ceilings are interesting.