at 3s. 4d. on obtaining the freedom of the gild. In 1536 it became necessary to pass another law (28th Henry VIII. c. 5), forbidding the masters of the corporations to take an oath from the apprentices that they would not carry on trade on their own account without the master's consent, and also forbidding them to exact sums of money on granting the freedom of the gild. But even these laws were powerless against the selfish endeavours of the craft-gilds, to prevent apprentices from becoming masters, and thus diminish competition, as is shown by the following account taken from Stowe: 'It was a great matter in former times to give 10l. to bind a youth apprentice; but in King James I.'s time, they gave 20l., 40%., 60l. and sometimes 100l., with an apprentice. But now these prices are vastly enhanced to 500l., or 600l., or 800l.' Cromwell granted to the grocers a charter by which they were empowered to levy a fine of 30%. on each member on his admission. Though the sums abovementioned refer probably only to the twelve great companies, the Acts of Henry VIII. show the difficulties which were put in the way of apprentices becoming masters in all trades. This led to an insurrection of the apprentices on May Day, 1517, another in 1586 against foreign tradespeople who sought refuge in England, and to a petition to Parliament in 1641, for prohibitive measures against the strangers, worded thus: 'And first we beseech your honours to take into consideration the intolerable abuse of our apprenticeship; for where we by coercion are necessarily compelled to serve seven or eight years at least, before we can have the immensity and freedom of this city to trade in, those who are mere strangers do snatch this freedom from us, and pull the trades out of our hands; so that by these means, when our times are fully expired, we do then begin in a manner to suffer a second apprenticeship to them, who do thus domineer over us in our own trades,' &c.

§ 124. On the Continent there were fraternities of journeymen similar to those in England. In their statutes reference is made to religious services at stated times, to common meals, and directions are given as to the maintenance of order on these and other occasions, to burials, support and nursing the sick, entrance fees, contributions, &c. Every journeyman had to belong to the gild. The rules as to conduct, &c., were precisely the same as those in England. These were recognised by the masters' gilds, established by their consent, and were supplementary to them. In Germany, ordinances against the abuses of these gilds are to be found in the laws of the empire, and especially condemnatory of the exclusion of whole classes for such reasons as the alleged infamy of birth, the most extraordinary proofs of real nobility being required before a candidate was admitted as worthy of the gild. Enactments were also to be found against the exactions of heavy payments on admission, &c. As the term of apprenticeship was not so long as in England, they compelled the journeyman to travel for some years before he could become a master. Then at the end of the fifteenth century, they demanded a piece of work as a masterpiece, as a requisite to the right of independent exercise of the craft. This often amounted to a prohibition, for such an article was costly, unsaleable, and often useless. Expensive inauguration dinners were also required to be given, so that few only were able to bear the expense without incurring debt.

§ 125. The sons of masters were exempt from all such restrictions as the prolonged term of apprenticeship, the compulsory travelling, and the making of a masterpiece. The tyranny of these family-gild clubs went so far as to interfere with the most intimate domestic relations; journeymen were generally forbidden to marry, whereas masters were required to be married; sometimes the

candidate for mastership had to point out the 'honourable and virtuous' maiden, who was to be his future wife. The descent of the intended bride or the wife was subjected to the same scrutiny as that of the craftsman himself; but if, however, he married a daughter or widow of a master, special favours were shown. These corporations often made a trade of their freedom: the privileges were difficult to obtain, but once obtained, they were hereditary, and therefore had a monetary value. In France they similarly degenerated and narrowed; the same favours were shown, the same restrictions imposed, the same payments enacted, so that as early as 1614 the third estate desired the suppression of these gilds.

§ 126. As the craft-gilds degenerated into mere capitalists' societies, so the government of them fell into the hands of the richest members; these were at that time divided into three classes: the livery to which the richer masters were admitted; the householders to which the rest of the masters belonged; and the journeymen who were simply called freemen, sometimes 'yeomanry,' or 'bachelors.' Instead of the former government by a meeting of all gild-associates, there now appeared a court of assistants,' who enacted its ordinances and governed the gild. The first legal appointment of a court of assistants was under Philip and Mary; from the time of James I., the transfer of the elective franchise from the 'communists' to the courts of assistants, became general in the charters, and thus, what had hitherto existed merely on sufferance, became legal. The king appointed the first members of the court for life; as these died off or resigned, the court filled up the vacancies from former masters and wardens, these being all chosen from the liverymen. To the rest of the gildmembers, election day simply meant attending at gildhall on the day of election to hear the names proclaimed.

An oath was also introduced for all members, by which they swore to obey the masters and wardens, and their ordinances. Violation of the laws of the gilds, misconduct of members, refusal to accept office, &c., were punished as before, and the charitable regulations remained pretty much the same, except that they were more subordinate than formerly.

§ 127. This transfer of power from the meetings of the whole of the gild-associates to the court of assistants was not always effected without opposition from a part at least of the members; these, relying on the old charters of the gild, claimed the right of electing the wardens, and of framing the ordinances for the whole body of the gild members. But they failed to arrest this transfer of the supreme authority from the whole to a party, and thus the government of the gilds fell into the hands of a clique. As time wore on the possession of large capital became more and more requisite, as the conditions by which the independent right to trade could be exercised: this impaired the prospects of the journeymen from becoming masters, and gave rise to an ever-increasing antagonism between the interests of the workmen and the masters, and ultimately it gave birth to a new organisation with special laws, having for its object the protection of those who had been denuded of power.

§ 128. In Germany the government of the gild did not fall into the hands of an oligarchy as it did in England, for the body of the gild-members continued to elect the masters and wardens. The practice of travelling was, however, obligatory; and with it the practice of relief became general; lists of members wanting journeymen were to be found in the house of call in each town, the master whose name was first on the list being entitled to the workman who first arrived in search of employment. This system of travelling led to the formation of

special fraternities by the journeymen, which resemble in a striking manner the modern trades unions. The organisation and statutes of the shoemakers' gild of Arnstadt is replete with interest, the articles containing the most minute details as to its government, constitution, religious services, and conduct. The societies of the French 'compagnons' correspond generally with those in Germany. In both cases the ceremonies on admission to the gild, and on general occasions, were of the most exacting character, many of them positively absurd—a remnant of them have survived even to this day in some of the 'orders,' as they are called, such as the Odd Fellows and Freemasons.

§ 129. The practice, so often commented on in our own day, of having black lists was general, both in the late craft-gilds of the capitalists and in the journeymen's fraternities; in these lists were entered the names of masters and workmen who were under the interdict of the fraternity, and strikes took place against those who had violated the rules or articles; in such cases they refused to work for a master, or with a journeyman, until atonement had been made to the gild. When a strike took place, the journeymen in other towns were communicated with, warning them not to come to those places where there was a strike. In 1726 a strike took place at Augsburg, which led to an imperial decree in 1731, directed against these and other abuses of the handicrafts. But this and other imperial laws were disregarded, and the craftsmen hung together throughout Germany, until further tumults led to their suppression, although they were not stamped out.

§ 130. These contentions and strikes were usually with regard to an infringement of the privileges of the gild-members, innovations in trade customs, and the like; they were seldom about wages, although in France