and they shall be collectors of the forfeitures, and suche as refuse to pay upon complaint, shall be committed till payment; and if any of the monitors make default, he or they shall be committed, till he or they pay the forfeiture of suche defaulter or defaulters that ought to be presented." 26th Elizabeth. Monitors elected to present the names of the defaulters at the Great Court for this next year, and the forfeitures besides the monitors' part, shall go to the hospital, one for each ward as elected according to the former order. 39th Elizabeth. Absentees from Great Court, or Assembly, being notified thereof, shall forfeit as followeth-Portmen 3s., the Twenty-four 2s., and commoner residents 12d. 44th Elizabeth. "At this Court it is ordered that Richard Marten, tresurer, shall give and deliver to Robt. Palmer, beadle, of this towne, one yard and three quarters of clothe, coller azer, (colour azure,) to make him a liverie. And the said clothe to be of the prise of viijs. the yarde and noe more." 7th James I, 9th June. "All Freemen shall comme to the Greate Court in their gowns, uppon paine of forfeiture, according to the auncient order, of 3s. 4d." 9th James I, 27th May. "Chr. Ward disfranchised for refusing to pay his fine of 10 li. for contemptuous words by him spoken of the vote of the Great Court." "Richard Martin for neglect in his treasurer's place, and absence from the Great Court, being seene in this town abroad, is fined 20s." 16th James I, 29th October. Richard Puplet for negligence in his place, fined 10 li. John Blomfield, the other Chamberlain, fined 5 li. Willm. Gravenor is fined 5 li. for saying to Mr. Bailiffs "that they should not regard their oathes," to be levied by the Chamberlain aforesaid. 18th James. "Suche of the Twenty-four as shall comme to the publique solemnities at the Tower Church without their gowns, shall forfeit 12d. for every such default. And the Twenty-four shall have keyes to keepe their seates from strangers.", 18th James, 24th May. At the funeral of any of the Twelve, or Twenty-four, all the company of the Twelve and Twenty-four shall be present in their gowns, under the penalty of 2s. for each Portman defunct, and 12d. for each default of each of the Twentyfour. 1st Car. 6th April. All persons making default of the Great Court, or other assembly, shall be fined. Portmen 3s. Twenty-four 2s. and others 12d. The one moiety to the poor, the other to the serjeants for the levying thereof. 18th Charles. "If at any time hereafter in any Greate Courte any person or persons shall offer to speake and shall speake publiquely before the former pson that beganne to speake hath made an end of speaking, such pson or psons shall forfait 12d. for every suche offence to the use of the poore where suche offender dwelleth, to be levied by distresse by the Chamberlins. And its agreed that when any p son shall speake they shall direct their speeches to Mr. Bayliffs for the time being." Chamberlain. Benjamin Butler elected Chamberlin, in regard he can neither write nor read, at his request is discharged, paying his fine of 10 li. The Corporation also appointed preachers to preach before the body at St. Mary Tower church, and musicians who attended upon all public occasions. These last were not allowed to leave the town without express permission of the Bailiffs. It was also a portion of their duty to attend processions of Corpus Christi Guild, and the Midsummer Watch. The musicians were provided with a livery, and a certain sum was annually paid them for the exclusive retention of their services by the town. The efforts of the ancient Corporation were also especially directed towards the suppression of forestallers and regrators in the markets, as well as attending to the onerous duty of keeping the retail dealers honest towards the poor. Amerciaments, punishment by the pillory and the tumbril, deprivation of freedom and license to sell, abound in the Court Books. These punishments though severe were not so extreme as carried into effect in other towns, particularly in such places where the municipality held peculiar jurisdiction. The laws and punishments in the borough of Sandwich, one of the Cinque Ports, for instance, equalled in cruelty the few civil regulations held by the Danes. At Sandwich, it was no unusual proceeding to expatriate a man convicted of theft, or condemn the nailing of his ears to the pillory or a cart wheel, until he could depart from the locality by tearing the flesh from its fastening.* The Great Courts were generally summoned to deliberation by the blowing of a horn. This ancient instrument, yet in the possession of the Corporation, is believed to have been bestowed on that body by King John, when granting the first charter, but nothing beyond tradition exists in support of the story. Its possession, however, is proof of the great antiquity of the local government, the custom of blowing a horn to collect the scattered members of the Great Court, dating from the Saxon period. An additional reason why the Ipswich horn is a type of Saxon custom is that it was blown at midnight before the door of the *See Boys's History of Sandwich. residence of the Bailiffs, and then in each ward, upon the night preceding the day of holding a Great Court. This is undoubtedly a Saxon custom. The Saxon officer, called Wakeman, anciently sounded his horn at the setting of the nightly watch, but upon the intended holding of any burgh mote, added three blasts long, loud, and dire, to his accustomed warning. In some towns the knowledge of the custom of setting the watch by the blowing of the Wakeman's horn is well preserved. In Ripon, an ancient custom was re-ordained as late as 1598, that the horn should be blown at the four corners of the cross at nine o'clock, after which if any house on the gate side within the town was robbed, the Wakeman paid the loss, if his servants were found not to have been on duty.* The Corporations of Dover, Sandwich, and other places, were also summoned to the consideration of their duties by the blowing of a horn. An additional proof if necessary, that the custom of using these horns arose from one single source, is shewn in the fact, that they are alike in form. The Great Court Trump of Ipswich, as this horn is termed, is nearly strait, but turns suddenly upwards at the wider orifice. Its length is two feet nine inches, and its weight 4lbs. The form of the Sandwich horn is similar, but the instrument is evidently of later manufacture, the end for the emission of sound bearing a more modern finish. It was most probably made on the general Walbran's Ripon and Harrowgate. model of an ancient horn, with the addition of such improvement as the times suggested. Besides the charters already mentioned, must be added those of the 3rd Richard III; 24th Henry VI; 2nd Richard III; 3rd Henry VII; 3rd Henry VIII; 13th Henry VIII. Those of which abstracts are given are however the principal charters on which the liberties of the town are more particularly founded. The salary of the ancient Bailiffs fluctuated with the prosperity of the town. At the time of the enquiry into the condition of Corporations, as a prelude to the municipal changes afterwards adopted in the 5th and 6th Will. IV, cap. 76, the salary of each was £55. They were also entitled to two-penny-worth of fish from each fishing boat, and two bushels of coals from every coal ship, if not the property of a free man of the borough. They were also paid £1 11 6 each for service termed the "Bailiffs' Lantern." This payment was believed to apply to light and protection afforded the Bailiffs' wives in returning from their nightly visits. The lords and masters of these ladies being enjoined to hospitality during the time of holding office, it was also deemed imperative upon their wives who socially, if not municipally, shared the glory of office, to be apt and sedulous in their attentions to the dames of those over whom they ruled. Hence they visited their neighbours by night, and hence the origin of the payment made to light them home: "Safe from slough, and toppling wall, By the charter of John, the Burgesses were empowered to elect two of the most learned men of the town and present them to the Chief Justice of |