Page:Notes and Queries - Series 9 - Volume 6.djvu/272

 222 NOTES AND QUERIES, p* 8. vi. SEPT. 22,1900. new block of the Record Office, removing only the roof, which, being of wood, could not be permitted to remain part of a build- ing which had to be fireproof, out the scheme had to be abandoned on account of the rotten state of the walls. Mr. Lyte, the Deputy Keeper of the Records, gives the following interesting history of the chapel:— "It was originally the Chapel of the House of Converts founded by Henry III., for the reception of Jews who had embraced the Christian faith. The keepers of the House of Converts came also to be the keepers of the Rolls of Chancery, and the Chapel of the House of Converts came to be known popularly as the Rolls Chapel. There was a Master of the Rolls with the name of Sir Julius Csesar, who here in 1815 married Mrs. Hungate. The bride was given away by her uncle, Sir Francis Bacon. It is a popular error, propagated by Pen- nant's account of London, that Inigo Jones rebuilt the chapel in 1617. There is no evidence to con- nect Inigo Jones with the Rolls Chapel, and he was not the ruthless restorer and reeonstructor of that building in the seventeenth century. It is supposed to have been injured by the Great Fire of London. The Rolls Chapel was used, not only for l)ivine worship and for the preservation of the records of Chancery, but also as a meeting-place for creditors and debtors, and more recently as the place at which mortgagees waited for an hour before fore- closure. The attendance in the chapel dwindled down to about five as a maximum, and sometimes to two or even one, before the services finally ceased in 1895." But it is within the last ten years that the greatest changes round Bream's Buildings nave been made, to the considerable benefit of the owners of the freehold, the Eccle- siastical Commissioners; the offices of the Queen, Field, and Law Times, the Athenaeum, Notes and Queries, the Birkbeck Institution, and large printing establishments now occupy laud which a few years ago was a seriesof courtsand narrow passages. Although these in recent times had become squalid and uninviting, they had in the past been full of associations dear to the antiquary and the historian. On the 9th of July some of the old houses in Nevill's Court, Fetter Lane, were sold by Messrs. Weatherall & Green. These quaint houses, with their small gardens, are among the oldest in London, being among the relics of the City untouched by the Great _f ire. The sale, which comprised some houses Fetter Lane, realized about 23,000/L, and and'k probably bring about the extending of EN(i's Buildings. Nos. 8, 9, and 10, forming w_:f the Moravian settlement founded !*~1--at Zinzendorf in 1722, were not In SFLIlt^ig This was tho firsfc settie. vians in England. No. 10 v^HWEPPES, LTI>._ :on loeJlv known as GLASGOW, IJVEKPOOL. BKisV,81011. locally Known as <ere is a tradition that it C_ OC was at one time occupied by the Bishops of Chichestcr, who once owned the site of Lincoln's Inn, and still hold property on both sides of Chancery Lane. Among the preachers in Nevill's Court was John Wesley, but the ' History of the Moravian Chapel,' published at 32, Fetter Lane, says that it is quite a mistake to state that the chapel was taken by Wesley, and that he formed his first society there. The Moravians, or rather, as they prefer to be called, "The Church of the United Brethren," still keep their work in Fetter Lane in full activity. Many interesting pamphlets are published from their office. At the old chapeX in which few changes have been made, frequent services are held. The old organ remains, and a portion of the space under the gallery is divided by a glass parti- tion. This is still known as the nursery," from a tradition that little children were kept there during the services, so as not to disturb the congregation. In former times there was a door in the wall at the back of the pulpit, so that the minister would be able to escape in case of riot. It is curious that the chapel should stand in two parishes, those of St. Bride and St. Dunstan-in-the- West, the boundary passing just in front of the pulpit. On this account the eastern window used to have a sash to admit the passage of a boy to " beat the bounds " on Holy Thursday.* The Moravians claim to number 258,000, and spend in mission work 80,0001. per annum. Another chapel in Fetter Lane, just pulled down, had alsoa most interesting record. It was associated with the Independents, now more generally called Congregationalists. The pre- cise date of its foundation is unknown, but it was certainly previous to 1660. The leather- seller in Fleet Street, Praise God Barebones, occasionally preached there; his nephew assumed the name of Nicholas in place of the extraordinary rigmarole given to nim by his father, and was the founder of the Phoenix Fire Office ; his house in Crown Court became) the seat of the Royal Society. It was under the ministry of Mr. Stephen Lobb that about; 1685 the church took possession of the chape) in Fetter Lane. He is described as a man of learning, courage, and ability, and he took: a leading part in the controversies that arosf when James II. tried to get the laws against toleration altered. Being frequently at Courtj, he used his influence with the king, consider ably to the advantage of the Dissenters. by the Society.
 * 'History of the Moravian Church," publishe