The following was the oath of the Sheriffs:— “You shall swear, that you shall be good and true unto N, the King of England, and his heirs, and the franchise of the City of London you shall save and maintain, within the City and without, according to your power; and that well and lawfully you shall keep the Counties of London and of Middlesex, and the offices which unto the same Counties appertain to be done, well and lawfully you shall do, according to your wit and power; and that right you shall do as well to poor as to rich; and that no good custom you shall break, or evil one maintain. And that the assizes of bread, and of ale, and all other assizes which unto you pertain, within the franchise of the City and without, well and lawfully you shall keep and shall cause to be kept. And that the judgments and executions of your Court you shall not delay without reasonable cause, nor any right disturb; and that the Writs which unto you shall come, touching the state and the franchise of the City, you shall not return before you have shown them unto the Mayor, for the time being, and unto the Council of the City, and of them have advice. And that ready you shall be, at reasonable warning of the Mayor, for keeping and maintaining the peace and state of the City. And that all other things which pertain unto your office and the keeping of the said Counties, lawfully you shall do, by you and yours, and the said City shall keep from harm, according to your wit and power. And that the County of Middlesex or the keeping of the Gaol of Newgate you shall not let to ferm.—So God you help, and the Saints.” (_Liber Albus_, pp. 266-267.) When the Sheriffs were sworn all their servants had to take oath: their serjeants, clerks, valets, bailiffs of the customs and of Middlesex, and the gaoler of Newgate and his clerk; and the same day the Sheriffs were to go to Newgate and to take over the prisoners there; observe, by the terms of their oath, that they were not allowed to let the gaol “to ferm” nor the County of Middlesex. Other officers were the Recorder, who was to be, on appointment, a barrister of less than sixteen years’ standing, the Chamberlain, the Common Serjeant-at-Law, and the Common Clerk. And there were inferior officers, clerks and serjeants. Leaving the officers, John Carpenter goes on to show how the Barons and the community must behave towards the King and his Justiciars: in other words, he speaks of the method of receiving the King’s Writs and the Pleading of the Pleas of the Crown. Let us pass over these points, which are curious to the antiquary, and come to the methods of hearing criminal cases:—