Also,—that the Wardens of the said trade shall make their searches for all manner of hats that are for sale within the said franchise, so often as need shall be. And that the aforesaid Wardens shall have power to take all manner of hats that they shall find defective and not befitting, and to bring them before the Mayor and Aldermen of London, that so the defaults which shall be found may be punished by their award. Also,—whereas some workmen in the said trade have made hats that are not befitting, in deceit of the common people, from which great scandal, shame, and loss have often arisen to the good folks of the said trade, they pray that no workman in the said trade shall do any work by night touching the same, but only in clear daylight; that so, the aforesaid Wardens may openly inspect their work. And he who shall do otherwise, and shall be convicted thereof before the Mayor and Aldermen, shall pay to the Chamber of the Guildhall, the first time 40d., the second time half a mark, and the third time he shall lose his freedom. REGULATIONS CONCERNING WAGES AND PRICES (1350). The Black Death, which broke out in England in 1348, was a terrible calamity, and it is estimated that at least half of the population of the country perished by the pestilence, including a large proportion of the inhabitants of London. The churchyards were speedily filled, and additional pieces of land were given by the Bishop of London and other persons for the burial of the victims of this fearful plague. The most important result of the pestilence was the dearth of labour which was immediately caused, and the consequent rise in wages was a source of considerable trouble to the legislature and to all employers of labour. Parliament passed the Statutes of Labourers, which were intended to fix the wages of workpeople at the rates which had been customary before the plague, and in London an attempt was made towards the same object by this Proclamation, in which wages are laid down "to be observed for ever." It seems strange that in a commercial city like London it should be considered possible to regulate wages and prices by an arbitrary enactment of this kind, and it does not appear that the ordinance was obeyed. There is little doubt that it was generally ignored, and the craftsmen continued to make the most of the situation, just as the agricultural labourers and craftsmen in the country were able, on the whole, to set at defiance the Statutes of Labourers. =Source.=—Riley's _Memorials_, p. 253.