Page:Elizabethan People.djvu/272

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216
THE ELIZABETHAN PEOPLE

Warwick, to the Lord Mayor, complaining of the treatment and disgrace put upon his servant in not being allowed to play prizes, after the publication of his bills, wherein his (the writer's) name had been used, although others had been so permitted.

"July 24, 1582, Letter from the Lord Mayor to the Earl of Warwick, in reply. He had not refused permission for his servant to play his prizes, but had granted him a licence, only restraining him from playing at an inn for fear of infection, and had appointed him to play in an open place at the Leadenhall. Not having availed himself of the permission for fourteen days, and the infection increasing, it became necessary to prohibit the assembling of the people to his play within the City, but permission had been given him to perform in the open fields. No permission had been granted to any others. With the man's own consent he had appointed Monday next, and had allowed him liberty to pass openly through the city with his company, drums, and show."

The city council of Cambridge feared that disorder would grow out of a public fencing match to be held January 20, 1579, and found it necessary to take especial precautions to prevent trouble. From fencing as an amusement to fenc-