liked, and do the same."

Amongst other charges against the trade at this date, it is said "that
dayly divers straungers and other gentils" complained and found
themselves aggrieved, that they came to the shops of goldsmiths within
the City of London, and without the City, and to their booths and fairs,
markets, and other places, and there bought of them _old plate_ new
refreshed in gilding and burnishing; it appearing to all "such
straungers and other gentils" that such old plate, so by them bought,
was new, sufficient, and able; whereby all such were deceived, to the
grete "dys-slaunder and jeopardy of all the seyd crafte of goldsmythis."

[Illustration: ALTAR OF DIANA (_see page 362_).]

In consequence of these complaints, it was ordained (15 Henry VII.) by
all the said fellowship, that no goldsmith, within or without the City,
should thenceforth put to sale such description of plate, in any of the
places mentioned, without it had the mark of the "Lybardishede crowned."
All plate put to sale contrary to these orders the wardens were
empowered to break. They also had the power, at their discretion, to
fine offenders for this and any other frauds in manufacturing. If any
goldsmith attempted to prevent the wardens from breaking bad work, they
could seize such work, and declare it forfeited, according to the Act of
Parliament, appropriating the one half (as thereby directed) to the
king, and the other to the wardens breaking and making the seizure.

The present Goldsmiths' Hall was the design of Philip Hardwick, R.A.
(1832-5), and boasts itself the most magnificent of the City halls. The
old hall had been taken down in 1829, and the new hall was built without
trenching on the funds set apart for charity. The style is Italian, of
the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. The building is 180 feet in
front and 100 feet deep. The west or chief facade has six attached
Corinthian columns, the whole height of the front supporting a rich
Corinthian entablature and bold cornice; and the other three fronts are
adorned with pilasters, which also terminate the angles. Some of the
blocks in the column shafts weigh from ten to twelve tons each. The
windows of the principal story, the echinus moulding of which is
handsome, have bold and enriched pediments, and the centre windows are
honoured by massive balustrade balconies. In the centre, above the first
floor, are the Company's arms, festal emblems, rich garlands, and
trophies. The