In the year 1582, expence in dress having prevailed in the city, among people of all ranks, particularly among apprentices, which was then apprehended might prove of dangerous consequence to their masters, the following orders were published by the Lord Mayor and Common Council, which will be now thought very extraordinary, viz. That from thence forward no apprentice whatsoever should presume, To wear any apparel but what he receives from his master. To wear no hat within the city and liberty thereof, nor any thing instead of it but a woollen cap, without any silk about it. To wear no ruffles, cuffs, loose collar, nor any thing more than a ruff at the collar, and that only of a yard and a half long. To wear no doublets but what were made of canvas, sackcloth, fustian, English leather, or woollen cloth, without being enriched in any manner with gold, silver, or silk. To wear no other coloured cloth or kersey, in hose or stockings, than white, blue, or russet. To wear little breeches of the same stuffs as the doublets, without being stitched, laced, or bordered. To wear a plain upper coat of cloth or leather, without pinking, stitching, guarding, lace, or silk about it. To wear no other surtout than a cloth gown or cloak, lined or faced with cloth, cotton, or bays, with a fixed round collar, without stitching, guarding, lace, or silk. To wear no pumps, slippers, nor shoes, but of English leather, without being pinked, edged, or stitched; nor girdles nor garters except of crewel, woollen, thread, or leather, without being garnished. And to wear no sword, dagger, or other weapon, but a knife; nor neither a ring, nor a jewel, gold, silver, nor silk in any part of his apparel. Rigorous as these laws were, and unsufferable as they would be now thought, yet any apprentice offending against any of the above particulars, was, for the first offence, to be punished at the discretion of his master; for the second he was to be publickly whipped at the hall of his company; and for the third, to serve six months longer than specified in his indentures. And every master conniving at his apprentice’s violating the above severe decree, was to forfeit 6s. 8d. to the poor of the parish in which he dwelt. The plague, which had broke out many times in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, appeared afresh in 1603, on the accession of King James I. to the throne, and made such dreadful devastation, that, within the space of a year, it swept away 30,578 persons: but it having at length happily ceased, the King, Queen, and Prince Henry, made their public entry from the Tower on the 15th of March 1604, on which occasion the city was embellished with seven magnificent triumphal arches, numerous pageants, and other pompous decorations. The streets were adorned with the richest silks and carpets, and lined with the stands of the several corporations, with their flags and bands of music.