only shall wear cloth-of-gold or purple color, or black
fur, and that no man under the degree of a knight may wear "pinched
Shirts." In this reign also comes the famous Statute of Wills,
permitting the disposal of land by devise, the Statute of Uses
and other matters primarily of interest to the lawyer; the first
Bankruptcy Act and the first legislation recognizing the duty of the
secular law to support the poor, perfected only under Queen Elizabeth;
but in the latter part of his reign there is little law-making that
need concern us. The Statutes of Apparel continue, and the statutes
fixing the price of wine, which, indeed, seems to have been the last
subject so regulated. There is the "Bloody Statute" against heresy,
and the first act against witchcraft, Tindale's translation of the
Bible is prohibited, and women and laborers forbidden to read the New
Testament. There is the first act for the preservation of the river
Thames, and also for the cleaning of the river at Canterbury; and the
first game law protecting wild-fowl, and a law "for the breeding of
horses" to be over fifteen hands. The king is allowed to make bishops
and dissolve monasteries; physicians are required to be licensed. The
regrating of wools and fish is again forbidden, and finally there is
an act for the true making of Pynnes; that is to say, they are to be
double headed and the heads "soudered fast to the Shanke."

We are now approaching the end of our task, for the legislation after
James I, with the exception of a few great acts, such as the Statute
of Frauds and the Habeas Corpus Act, hardly concerns us as not being
part of our inherited common law. The reigns of Elizabeth and James
are to us principally notable for the increase of the feeling against
monopolies, ending in the great Statute of James I. While we still
find restrictions upon trade in market towns or in the city of
London, they always appear as local restrictions and are usually soon
repealed. The prejudice against regrating, that is to say, middlemen,
continues, as is shown in a Statute of Edward VI, providing that no
one shall buy butter or cheese unless to sell the same only by retail
in open shop. That is to say, there must be no middleman between the
producer and the retailer, and a definition of the word "retail" is
given. In 1552, the 7th of Edward VI is a celebrated statute called
the Assize of Fuel, applied to the city of London, notable because
it forbids middlemen and pro