Oath of a Serjeant at Law, 1577, X.d.122(4)

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This article features a transcription of a Folger Shakespeare Library manuscript, Oath of a Serjeant at Law, featured in the Age of Lawyers Exhibition, X.d.122 (4), (ca. 1577–87 ), September 12, 2015-January 3, 2016.

A lawyer who rose to serjeant at law had arrived at the top. New serjeants resigned from their inn of court and typically joined Serjeants' Inn. William Lambarde, one of the first legal antiquarians, collected this serjeant's oath in the late 1500s.

Transcription

Below is a semi-diplomatic transcription of leaf 1 recto of Folger manuscript X.d.122(4). The transcription below was created by the Early Modern Manuscripts Online (EMMO) project. To access an image of the original leaf, click on each transcription's heading.

X.d. 122(4), leaf 1 recto

ye shall swere that well & trulie

you shall serue the people as one

of the sergeantes at Lawe and you

shall trulie counsell them that you shalbe

retayned with after your coming and you

shall not deferre tract or delaye

ther causes willinglie ther causes for

covetous of monie or other thing that

may turne to your profyt. And you

shall giue dew attendans.