We woll and charge you that for the hounour of this Citie ye do ordeyne & pˀpare ageinst the watches to be kept within this Citie in the nightꝭ of the vigilles of Sent John Baptist & Seint Peter nowe next comynge iiij honest & comely pˀsones suche as ye will answere for, w{t} Bowes & arrowes clenely harneysed and arrayed yn Jakettꝭ of whytte, havynge tharmes of this Citie, to waytte and attende uppon us in the said Watches, And to come to Blackwell Hall and there to be, for the not fayllynge hereof as ye tendre the honour of this Citie and also will answere at your pẽlls. Gyven in the Guihall of the said Citie the xiiij day of Junij the xvij year of the Reigne of our Soveraigne lorde King Henry the viij{th.} [Illustration] [Illustration: Handwritten autograph] An Act of Parliament was passed in the 20th Henry VII, which provided that the governing bodies of Guilds should not make any by-laws or ordinances, without the same should be approved by the Chancellor, the Lord Treasurer, and the Chief Justices of the King’s Bench and Common Pleas, or any three of them, etc., and in 1530 our Company, being desirous of settling many points for the government of the mystery, drew up a long set of interesting Ordinances, which were presented to Sir Thomas More the Chancellor, Sir John Fitzjames and Sir Robert Norwiche the Chief Justices, and were signed by them on the 14th May, 1530. The original (with More’s autograph) is at the Hall, and after reciting the Act of 20th Henry VII, ordains the following oaths and articles:-- The oath of a freeman. The oath of the Masters and Governors with directions as to searches. Ordinance as to attending on summons. " " quarterage. " " presentation of apprentices. " " number of servants to be kept by freemen and liverymen. " " wages of servants. " " enticing away of servants. " " opening shop. " " teaching the mystery to any but apprentices. " " sueing brother freemen at common law. " " “opprobrios condicions or dishonest wordes.” " " refusal to come on the Livery, and admission into the Livery. " " Sunday trading. " " presenting patients in danger of death. " " reading Lectures concerning Surgery. " " supplanting another of his patient. " " the Dinners. " " excess of words in debate. " " departing from the Common assembly. " " seniority. " " Barbers setting up shop. Sir Thomas More’s Ordinances, as above, will be found in full in the Appendix B, the transcript being made from the original.[76] [76] The copy of these Ordinances given by Mr. D’Arcy Power (p. 339) is taken from one made by our old friend Thomas Knot, and is not literally, though it is substantially, accurate.