Under Henry VIII. the old order was broken up, and sanctuary law, like much else, was changed and amended again and again. First, all special places save Wells, Westminster, and six others, lost the privilege. Divers classes of criminals --as traitors, and pirates (and afterwards) Egyptians--were formally rendered incapable of its enjoyment. Before the sanctuary man abjured the realm he was burned on the crown of the thumb "with the signe of an A," and if he did not depart on the instant, he had no further protection. But it occurred to over-anxious legislators that such a fugitive might carry beyond seas precious hints of the mysteries of trade or politics, or that, making as if for the nearest port, he might but proceed to infest another place. So he was ordered to abjure the liberty of the realm, but not the realm itself; and being branded, was confined under a governor in one or other of the sanctuaries. Whenever he ventured forth--as he might in the daytime--he must wear the prescribed badge of the refuge. He dare carry no weapon save a meat-knife, and that but at meal-times. He must likewise answer to the daily roll-call. If he committed another felony--and crimes done _sub spe redeundi_ had been a sore grievance of late--he was to lose his rights. The governor was empowered to hold courts for debt and minor offences within his bounds. And so "the sanctuary person abjured," as the Tudor lawyers phrased him, spent the last days of his evil life. I need not dwell on minor tinkerings of the system under Henry's children. In 1623 the Statute 21 James I., c. 28, s. 7 made a legal end of the right of sanctuary.