{"id":"01KG6YH1XCR87NSYZBN6FT2R4R","cid":"bafkreifnc6r4iuye2jjnopqutv7bkiwjrd5eyfitrpquamt4mafu5wvcte","type":"chunk","properties":{"end_line":3547,"extracted_at":"2026-01-30T07:57:45.581Z","extracted_by":"structure-extraction-lambda","label":"Chunk 3","source_file":"01KG6YDD8GKW0DRD5H2MY1NRZ7","start_line":3484,"text":"men of mark--famous nobles, judges, and Lord Chancellors--have in their\r\ntime been Templars. But all Templars are not known to universal fame;\r\nthough, if the having warm hearts and warmer welcomes, full minds and\r\nfuller cellars, and giving good advice and glorious dinners, spiced\r\nwith rare divertisements of fun and fancy, merit immortal mention, set\r\ndown, ye muses, the names of R.F.C. and his imperial brother.\r\n\r\nThough to be a Templar, in the one true sense, you must needs be a\r\nlawyer, or a student at the law, and be ceremoniously enrolled as\r\nmember of the order, yet as many such, though they may have their\r\noffices there, just so, on the other hand, there are many residents of\r\nthe hoary old domicils who are not admitted Templars. If being, say,\r\na lounging gentleman and bachelor, or a quiet, unmarried literary man,\r\ncharmed with the soft seclusion of the spot, you much desire to pitch\r\nyour shady tent among the rest in this serene encampment, then you must\r\nmake some special friend among the order, and procure him to rent, in\r\nhis name but at your charge, whatever vacant chamber you may find to\r\nsuit.\r\n\r\nThus, I suppose, did Dr. Johnson, that nominal Benedick and widower but\r\nvirtual bachelor, when for a space he resided here. So, too, did that\r\nundoubted bachelor and rare good soul, Charles Lamb. And hundreds more,\r\nof sterling spirits, Brethren of the Order of Celibacy, from time to\r\ntime have dined, and slept, and tabernacled here. Indeed, the place is\r\nall a honeycomb of offices and domicils. Like any cheese, it is quite\r\nperforated through and through in all directions with the snug cells of\r\nbachelors. Dear, delightful spot! Ah! when I bethink me of the sweet\r\nhours there passed, enjoying such genial hospitalities beneath those\r\ntime-honored roofs, my heart only finds due utterance through poetry;\r\nand, with a sigh, I softly sing, \"Carry me back to old Virginny!\"\r\n\r\nSuch then, at large, is the Paradise of Bachelors. And such I found it\r\none pleasant afternoon in the smiling month of May, when, sallying from\r\nmy hotel in Trafalgar Square, I went to keep my dinner-appointment with\r\nthat fine Barrister, Bachelor, and Bencher, R.F.C. (he is the first and\r\nsecond, and should be the third; I hereby nominate him), whose card I\r\nkept fast pinched between my gloved forefinger and thumb, and every now\r\nand then snatched still another look at the pleasant address inscribed\r\nbeneath the name, Number --, Elm Court, Templar.\r\n\r\nAt the core he was a right bluff, care-free, right comfortable, and\r\nmost companionable Englishman. If on a first acquaintance he seemed\r\nreserved, quite icy in his air--patience; this champagne will thaw.\r\nAnd, if it never do, better frozen champagne than liquid vinegar.\r\n\r\nThere were nine gentlemen, all bachelors, at the dinner. One was from\r\n\"Number --, King's Bench Walk, Temple\"; a second, third and fourth,\r\nand fifth, from various courts or passages christened with some\r\nsimilarly rich resounding syllables. It was indeed a sort of Senate of\r\nthe Bachelors, sent to this dinner from widely-scattered districts,\r\nto represent the general celibacy of the Temple. Nay it was, by\r\nrepresentation, a Grand Parliament of the best Bachelors in universal\r\nLondon; several of those present being from distant quarters of the\r\ntown, noted immemorial seats of lawyers and unmarried men--Lincoln's\r\nInn, Furnival's Inn; and one gentlemen upon whom I looked with a sort\r\nof collateral awe, hailed from the spot where Lord Verulam once abode a\r\nbachelor--Gray's Inn.\r\n\r\nThe apartment was well up toward heaven; I know not how many strange\r\nold stairs I climbed to get to it. But a good dinner, with famous\r\ncompany, should be well earned. No doubt our host had his dining-room\r\nso high with a view to secure the prior exercise necessary to the due\r\nrelishing and digesting of it.\r\n\r","title":"Chunk 3"},"relationships":[{"peer":"01KG6YGBGKAZPPX2G91V9P9TY1","peer_type":"segment","predicate":"in"},{"peer":"01KG6YDD8GKW0DRD5H2MY1NRZ7","peer_type":"file","predicate":"extractedFrom"},{"peer":"01KG6YCG626JN4FCG8QK17CQCF","peer_type":"collection","predicate":"collection"},{"peer":"01KG6YH1XF1D3SVA2PBJZKWFCM","peer_type":"chunk","predicate":"prev"},{"peer":"01KG6YH1XF6D32CMZSFEQCJ78Y","peer_type":"chunk","predicate":"next"}],"ver":2,"created_at":"2026-01-30T07:57:48.844Z","ts":"2026-01-30T07:57:54.422Z","edited_by":{"method":"manual","user_id":"01KFF0H3YRP9ZSM033AM0QJ47H"}}