Inns of Court

are four voluntary societies—Lincoln's Inn, the Inner and the Middle Temple, and Gray's Inn—with whom rests the exclusive right to call men to the English bar; they provide lectures and hold examinations in law, and they have discretionary powers to refuse admi ion to the bar or to expel and disqualify persons of unsuitable character from it; each Inn po e es considerable property, a dining hall, library, and chapel, and is subject to the jurisdiction of an irresponsible, self-elective body of Benchers, who are usually judges or senior counsel; these societies originated in the 13th century, when the practice of law pa ed out of the hands of the clergy.