CHAPTER VIII

THE CITY COMPANIES

We have next to consider the origin, growth, and development of the City Companies.

On the origin and antiquity of Guilds I have already spoken (vol. i. p. 204). It is impossible to conceive of any time, after men had begun to live in villages and towns, after arts and crafts had arisen, after some attempt at order had been made, when there were no such associations as those we call guilds. Those of the same trade were compelled to band together for the use of tools, for instruction, for the regulation of the output, for protection of all kinds. In the fifth century there were “consuls” or chiefs, of the Locksmiths; the bakers of Paris act as a body in the reign of King Dagobert; in Lombardy they had colleges of artisans; in Ravenna in the tenth century there was a college of fishermen; there was a chief of the Corporation of Traders; a chief of the Corporation of Butchers. In Paris in the year 1162 there were dues payable by the Corporation of Tanners, Shoemakers, and Pursemakers.

The oldest Guild-Statutes extant in this country are the laws of three Guilds, those of Abbotsbury, Exeter, and Cambridge. The general principles of the three are thus summed up by Brentano:—

“According to the latest investigation into the origin of Gilds, the drawing-up of all these statutes took place in the beginning of the eleventh century. In the case of one of these Gilds, there is no doubt whatever as to the accuracy of this date. This Gild was founded and richly endowed by Orcy, a friend of Canute the Great, at Abbotsbury, in honour of God and St. Peter. Its object, according to the statutes, appears to have been the support and nursing of infirm Gild-brothers, the burial of the dead, the performance of religious services, and the saying of prayers for their souls. The association met every year, on the feast of St. Peter, for united worship in honour of their patron saint. Beside this, there was a common meal: and in order that the poor might also have their share in the joys of the festival, they received alms on the day of the feast; for which purpose the Gild-brothers were obliged to furnish, on the eve of the day, contributions of bread ‘well boulted and thoroughly baked.’ Guests were only admitted to the common meal by permission of the Master and Steward. Insults offered in a malignant spirit by one brother to another, were punished on the part of the Gild, and had also to be atoned for to the insulted. He who had undertaken an office, but had not properly discharged its duties, was severely punished.

The Exeter Gild, whose statutes have likewise been preserved, was of altogether the same character. Here, however, association for the purpose of worship and prayer stands out more prominently as the object of the brotherhood than in the former case. Three times a year the Gild-brothers assembled to worship together for the well-being of their living and dead fellow-members. Here, also, every such service was followed by a meal in common. When any brother died, every member was obliged to perform special devotions for the departed soul. The mutual care of the Gild-brothers was, moreover, shown by money contributions in case of death, and in the support of those who went on a journey, as well as of those who had suffered loss by fire. Punishments were decreed for insults offered by the Gild-brothers to each other, as well as for not fulfilling the duties imposed on them by the Gild.

The statutes of the Gild at Cambridge show that its main object was altogether different from that of the two already mentioned. At the very outset, in the oath which every member had to take on the relics of the patron Saint of the Gild, they swore faithful brotherhood towards each other, not only in religious, but also in secular matters; and though the statutes secured for the Gild-brothers the same support in case of sickness and death as those of Exeter and Abbotsbury—and, like those, contained regulations with reference to alms, divine worship and feasts—yet all these objects were but insignificant in comparison with the measures for the protection of the members of the Gild against criminals, and even against the evil consequences of their own wrong-doings. The following may be considered a first principle: ‘If one misdo, let all bear it; let all share the same lot’; and for carrying this out, a complete organisation existed. If one of the Gild-brothers required the help of his fellow-members, the inferior officer of the Gild living nearest to him had to hasten to his aid; should the officer neglect this, he became liable to punishment, and in like manner the head of the society, should he be remiss in affording help. If a Gild-brother was robbed, the whole Gild had to assist him in obtaining compensation from the law-breaker. So also every Gild-brother was obliged to help, if a member himself had to make atonement for killing a man. If, however, he had no justifiable motive for committing the act, if he had not been provoked to it in a quarrel, if he was not under an obligation to execute vengeance, but had slain the man merely from malice, he himself had to bear the consequences of the deed. If one Gild-brother killed another, he had first to reconcile himself with the kinsmen of the murdered man, and had moreover to pay eight pounds to all those belonging to his larger family, namely, the Gild; failing which, he was shut out of the society, and the members of the Gild were forbidden to hold friendly intercourse of any kind with him. In like manner, an insult offered by one Gild-brother to another was severely punished. The solidarity of the society was even shown in the case of violence and damage to property, which one member might have suffered from the servant of another; the master of the servant was answerable for him, and was sued by the society for compensation. It was, moreover, a leading principle of the society, to which every member had to bind himself by oath, always to support him who had right on his side.

The essence of the manifold regulations of the statutes of these three Gilds appears to be the brotherly banding together into close unions between man and man, sometimes even established on and fortified by oath, for the purpose of mutual help and support. This essential characteristic is found in all the Gilds of every age, from those first known to us in detail, to their descendants of the present day, the Trade Unions. According to the variety of wants and interests at various times, the aims, arrangements, and rules of these unions also varied. As a rule, the Gild-brothers periodically assembled together for common feasts.” (_English Gilds_, p. lxv, Toulmin Smith’s edit.)

Stubbs divides the English Guild into three kinds—the Religious Guild, which had a social side; the Frith Guild; and the Merchant Guild.

I. Let us set forth the ordinances, already summed up, of the Exeter Guild, which belongs to the first kind.

“First, this Society is assembled in Exeter for God’s love and their souls’ profit, both in regard to the prosperity of this life and the future, which we wish for ourselves in God’s judgment.

1. There shall be three meetings in the year, the first at Michaelmas, the second at the feast of Our Lady after midwinter, and the third at the feast of All Saints after Easter.

2. Each brother shall contribute two _sextarii_ of malt, and each cniht one and a portion of honey.

3. The priest shall celebrate two masses, one for the living friends, the other for the dead, at each meeting; and each brother of lay estate shall recite two psalters, one for the living friends, the other for the dead. This altogether will make six masses and six psalters, there being three general meetings.

4. At each expedition ordered by the King every brother shall contribute five pence.

5. At a house-burning each brother shall contribute a penny.

6. If any brother neglect an appointment for a meeting on the first occasion he shall pay for three masses, on the second occasion for five, and on the third occasion no allowance shall be made for the neglect unless it be through infirmity or his lord’s business.

7. If any brother neglect the appointment of paying his subscription or contribution let him compensate for it two-fold.

8. If any man of this fellowship revile another, let him compensate for it with thirty pence. In conclusion the document prays ‘for God’s love, that every man of this assembly justly observe what we have justly ordained. God assist us therein.’”

As, formerly, each family was a company allied against the world, so a Guild was the extension of that principle, and was the association of many families to form one. Thus, to quote Brentano once more (p. 5):—

“The family was, according to these historians (Waitz and Lappenberg), a community of all-comprehending importance, and its care provided completely for nearly all the wants of the individual. This it was able to do in consequence of the then simplicity of life. The minor found in it his protection; the insulted, the natural friends who sympathised with him most keenly in every injury inflicted, and who helped him to procure satisfaction. He who would engage in those pursuits which alone in that age were worthy of a freeman, and which at the same time promised riches and fame—in chase, feuds, and war—found in the family his natural allies. Naturally, he who fell into poverty, or sickness, or any other kind of distress, obtained from the family the necessary help; and it provided of course for the burial of the dead, whose heir it was. These are indeed the first, and are even nowadays the practical results of the family union. For the murdered, there arose from the midst of his family an avenger; to the robbed it gave the necessary help to prosecute and punish the thief, and to obtain restitution of the plunder. Further consequences of the nature of the family compact were, that the members were obliged to maintain peace amongst themselves; that they were not entitled to appear against each other in a court of justice; and, on the other hand, that they were called upon to punish members, especially women, who had violated the right of the family. Before the community, too, it became answerable for its members. The payment of the forfeited _wergild_ was, in all cases of offence—which according to ancient usage and custom claimed revenge—the concern of the whole family. The family appeared as such an intimate union of its members, that this responsibility of the whole body for the individual member commended itself to the sense of justice of the people as a matter of course. But as it answered for the compensation, and took part in the payment thereof, and assisted the guilty in order that he might not forfeit life and limb to his antagonist, so it supplied the accused also with compurgators from among its members to ward off an unjust condemnation. In former times this family bond comprehended all relatives without limitation of degree; but in later days it became restricted to the nearer kinsfolk.”

The regulations of the Guilds resembled each other. Every Guild provided for its own masses and church services, and for the burial of its members, bringing the body to be buried, and providing wax lights, alms, and masses. Such of the Guilds as could afford it maintained their own Chaplain; women as well as men were admitted to membership. Sometimes the Guilds were composed of quite plain and simple folk; Worcester, it is known, had Guilds of Joiners and Carpenters, and perhaps of others; Bristol, among others, those of Fullers and Ringers; Holbeach, of Shepherds; Lynn, of Shipmen; Norwich, of “Peltyers”; Ludlow, of “Poor Men.” On the other hand, the Town Guild, or Merchant Guild, contained all the wealthier traders in the town. Sometimes it happened that men of different trades belonged to the same Guild. Thus Chaucer:—

“An Haberdasher and a Carpenter A webbe, a Deyer, and a Tapiser, Were all y-clothed in liverie Of a solempne and grete fraternite.”

Some of the Guilds were very popular, and had an immense roll of members. That of the Corpus Christi, York, is said to have numbered more than 14,000 members. Its popularity, however, is accounted for on the ground of the important part it took in the pageants of the City. The members took an oath of obedience on entrance. There was an entrance fee and an annual subscription of “housefee,” the amount varying from place to place, and from time to time. There were also calls upon the members for burials or for help in case of a member falling into poverty, and there were legacies. There were special days appointed for meeting together; the members were summoned by the Dean or by the common bellman. On the day of meeting they appointed officers, made agreements, and did other necessary things. On one day in the year, their Saint’s day, they all put on red hoods and livery, assembled together, marched to Church, bearing wax tapers, heard mass, made offerings, and going to the Guild house, or to the house of a brother, they feasted together in love and good fellowship.

On this day the richer Guilds got up processions, shows, ridings, pageants, and miracle plays. The internal administration of the Guilds was by a Master—“Gruuman” or Alderman, stewards or warders, Dean, and Clerk, the two latter being paid officers. Every Guild had its own livery. Those Guilds which were purely religious were, like the Corpus Christi of York, whose purpose was the conduct of a great and solemn procession, to celebrate one of the most important of Church doctrines. There were also Guilds for the performance of religious plays, as the Guilds of St. Elene, of St. Mary, and Corpus Christi at Beverley. There were Guilds for the repair of bridges and the building of chapels. There were Guilds of priests, especially the wide-spread Guild of Kalenders, so called because they, the members, met on the Kalend or first of every month. This Guild in some places, as at Bristol, maintained a school. Other Guilds, as that of St. Nicholas in Worcester, and that of Ludlow, maintained schools. All these Guilds were eventually swept away with the Dissolution of the Religious Houses.

II. The second kind of Guild was the old Saxon Frith Guild. There remains the complete code of a Frith Guild of the reign of Athelstan. In this

“May be recognised a distinct attempt on the part of the public authorities to supplement the defective execution of the law by measures for mutual defence ... if it be indeed the act of a voluntary association, it forms a serious precedent for the action of the Germanic leagues and the Castilian hermandad of later ages.” (Stubbs.)

After the ordinary rules of the Religious Guild there follow others connected with the distinct objects of the Society. Every member pays fourpence, which constitutes an insurance against theft; the Guild provides one shilling toward the pursuit of the thief. The members are arranged in bodies of ten, one of whom is the head man; these again are classed in tens under a common leader, who, with the other head man, acts as treasurer and adviser of the hundred members. The objects of the Society are the pursuit and capture of criminals and the exacting of compensation. As regards the body called the Cnihten Guild, it is dealt with elsewhere.

III. We next come to the Merchant Guild. This was simply the whole body of merchants organised for regulation of trade. In a mercantile city such a Society would of course be extremely powerful.

The statutes of the London Guilds were reduced to writing in the time of King Athelstan. From them Brentano thinks that the Guilds in and about London were united into one Guild, and to have framed common regulations for the better maintenance of peace, for the suppression of violence—especially of theft, and the aggressions of the powerful families,—as well as for carrying out rigidly the ordinances enacted by the King for that purpose.

It has already been stated that there are grave difficulties concerning the Merchant Guild of London. We find all the other towns in the country petitioning for the Merchant Guild unless they have already such an institution. But there are no documents at all which show the operation or the functions of the Merchant Guild of London. Some historians are of opinion that the Merchant Guild ruled the whole trade of the City, and that it was a body apart from the Portreeve or the Mayor and his Aldermen.

Whatever it was before the creation of the Mayor, there can be no doubt that after that important step all the functions of a Merchant Guild were discharged by the Mayor and Aldermen. These functions were, in brief, the regulation of trade. Now, in Riley’s _Memorials_ we have a great number of trades approaching the Mayor and Aldermen with petitions not to regulate their trade for themselves; but that the Mayor and Aldermen would be pleased to regulate it in a certain manner; to bestow upon them certain powers; and to allow them to hale offenders, not before any court of their own, but before the Mayor and Aldermen. What is this but the authority of the Merchant Guild?

We have seen the rules of the Religious Guild. Let us now consider the ordinances submitted to the Mayor and Aldermen by a Craft Company. The following are those of the Pewterers. They are not the Articles of Association framed when the Company was founded, but the rules by which the Company regulated its own work:—

“Unto the Mayor and Aldermen of the City of London pray the good folks, makers of vessels of pewter in the same City, that it may please them to hear the state and the points of their trade; and as to the defaults, for the common profit, by good discretion to provide redress and amendment thereof; and the points which are proper for folks who are skilful in the trade, and are duly ordained, to support and maintain.

In the first place—seeing that the trade of pewtery is founded upon certain matters and metals, such as copper, tin, and lead, in due proportions; of which three metals they make vessels, that is to say, pots, salt-cellars, _esquelles_,[15] _platers_, and other things by good folks bespoken; which works demand certain mixtures and certain alloys, according to the manner of vessel so bespoken; the which things cannot be made without good knowledge of a pewterer, well taught and well informed in the trade; seeing that many persons, not knowing the right alloys, nor yet the mixtures or the right rules of the trade, do work and make vessels and other things not in due manner, to the damage of the people, and to the scandal of the trade; the good folks of the trade do pray therefore that it may be ordained that three or four of the most lawful and most skilful in the trade may be chosen to oversee the alloys and the workmanship aforesaid; and that by their examination and assay, amendment may speedily be made where default has been committed. And that if any one shall be found rebellious against the Wardens and Assayers, the default may be shown, with the name of the rebellious offender, unto the Mayor and Aldermen; and that by them he may be adjudged upon, in presence of the good folks of the trade, who have found such default. And be it understood, that all manner of vessels of pewter, such as _esquelles_, salt-cellars, platters, chargers, _pichers_ squared, and _cruetz_ squared, and chrismatories, and other things that are made square or ribbed, shall be made of fine pewter, with the proportion of copper to the tin as much as, of its own nature, it will take. And all other things that are wrought by the trade, such as pots rounded, _cruetz_ rounded, and candlesticks and other rounded vessels that belong to the trade, ought to be wrought of tin alloyed with lead in reasonable proportions. And the proportions of alloy are, to one hundred weight of tin 22 pounds of lead; and these are always called ‘vessels of pewter.’ Also, that no person shall intermeddle with the trade aforesaid, if he be not sworn before the good folks of the trade lawfully to work according to the points ordained; such as one who has been an apprentice, or otherwise a lawful workman known and tried among them. And that no one shall receive an apprentice against the usage of the City. And those who shall be admitted therein, are to be enrolled, according to the usage of the City.

Also—that no person, freeman, or stranger, shall make or bring such manner of vessel of pewter into the City for sale, or offer it for sale, before that material has been assayed, on peril of forfeiture of the wares. And if the material be allowable upon assay by the Wardens made, then let the wares be sold for such as they are and not otherwise. And that no one of the trade shall make privily in secret vessels of lead, or of false alloy, for sending out of the City to fairs and to markets for sale, to the scandal of the City, and the damage and scandal of the good folks of the trade; but let the things be shown, that shall be so sent to sell without the City, to the Wardens of the trade before. And no one shall do any work in the trade, if he will not answer as to his own workmanship, upon the assay of his work, in whatever hand it be found. And if any one shall be found from henceforth carrying such wares for sale, to fairs or to markets, or elsewhere in the kingdom, before it has been assayed, and, before the Mayor and Aldermen, shall be convicted thereof, let him have his punishment at their discretion, according to his offence, when he shall be so convicted at the suit of the good folks of his trade.

Also—if any one shall be found doing damage to his master, whether apprentice or journeyman, privily in the way of larceny, under the value of ten pence, the first time, let amends be made unto the master by him or by his surety in the trade; and if he offend a second time, let his punishment be inflicted by award of the trade; and if he offend a third time, let him be ousted from the trade.

Also—as to those of the said trade who shall be found working in the trade otherwise than is before set forth, and upon assay shall be found guilty thereof; upon the first default let them lose the material so wrought; upon the second default let them lose the material, and suffer punishment at the discretion of the Mayor and Aldermen; and if a third time they shall be found offending, let them forswear the trade for evermore.

And also—the good folks of the trade have agreed that no one shall be so daring as to work at night upon articles of pewter; seeing that they have regard among themselves to the fact that the sight is not so profitable by night, or so certain as by day—to the profit that is, of the community. And also—that if any one of the said trade shall be found in default in any of the points aforesaid, he shall pay forty pence for the first default; for the second, half a mark; and on the third default, let it be done with him at the discretion of the Mayor and Aldermen; and of these payments let there be given one-half to the Chamber, to maintain the points aforesaid, and the other half to the Wardens of the said trade, for their trouble and their expenses. And that no one of the trade, great or small, shall take away the journeyman of another man, against the assent and the will of his first master, before he shall have fully served his term, according to the covenant made between them, and before the said journeyman shall have made amends to his master for the offences and misprisions committed against him, if he has in any way so offended or misprised, at the discretion of the Wardens of their trade; and whosoever shall do to the contrary of this ordinance, let such person have his punishment at the discretion of the Mayor and Aldermen.

Also—that no one of the said trade shall be so daring as to receive any one to work at the same trade, if he have not been an apprentice or if he be not a good workman and one who can have the testimony of his master, or of good folks of good condition; and can show that well and lawfully he has served his trade for the time assigned among them. There were chosen and sworn to oversee the Articles aforesaid—Stephen Lestraunge and John Syward, _peautrers_.

On Thursday next after the feast of Allhallows (1st November) in the 23rd year of the reign of King Edward the Third, etc., it was witnessed before Walter Turk, Mayor, and the Aldermen, that Stephen Lestraunge was dead, and that John Syward could not work; wherefore the reputable men of that trade chose Nicholas de Ludgate and Ernald Schipwaysshe, pewterer, who were sworn to keep the Articles aforesaid.” (Riley’s _Memorials_, p. 241.)

These are the main points. No one can complain that they are drawn up in the interests of the masters only. It is, however, to be remarked that the regulation of wages, hours, and prices is not attempted. The omission was doubtless designed as leaving such points fluctuating from day to day by arrangement between masters and men.

In the chapter on City Factions it is shown that, a hundred years before the date of their ordinances (1348), Thomas FitzThomas, the Mayor, had allowed the trades to draw up statutes for themselves, and had given them Charters which the following Mayors disallowed. These statutes, we are told in contemporary authority, had caused “intolerable loss” to merchants frequenting London. It is reasonable to conclude that they were drawn up by, and in the interests of, the craftsmen, and not by those who were able to take a wider view of trade than protection and high wages.

I have drawn up a list of the trades whose ordinances, as given by Riley, were submitted to the Mayor and Aldermen in the fourteenth century, with the dates of the regulations so drafted, and the subsequent date of the corporation as claimed by the present companies.

This document, like others in Riley’s _Memorials_, is most interesting as marking a definite stage. The trades have now learned, after a great deal of quarrelling, vague jealousies and suspicions, to formulate what they call the “points” of their craft. That their careful and judicious regulations, such as those I have quoted, were drawn up by the leading men of the craft, the masters and employers, cannot be doubted. They are not the work of ignorant men: they bear the impress of shrewd and experienced employers, whose conclusions and recommendations were drawn up for them by clerks skilled in the arrangement.

What is it that the Pewterers ask?

1. That the Mayor and Aldermen will consider the points of their trade, and that they will provide redress for faults.

Observe that they have no authority of their own such as they afterwards obtained as a company.

2. An assay of the material.

3. Admission, by apprenticeship, “according to the usage of the City.”

4. Protection against “foreigners,” _i.e._ persons not freemen of the City.

5. No secret profits by making vessels of false alloy for export to country fairs and markets.

6. The responsibility of every workman for his own work.

7. Penalties for damaging a master’s goods and for infringing the rules of the craft.

+————————————————————————————————————————————————+—————————+——————————+ | |Submitted| | | | to | Date of | | |Mayor and| Company. | | |Aldermen.| | +————————————————————————————————————————————————+—————————+——————————+ | | |(Grocers).| | Ordinances of the Pepperers of Sopere-lane | 1316 | 1345 | | Regulations made by the Armourers of London | 1322 | 1422 | | Ordinance of the Tapicers | 1331 | — | | Ordinances of the trade called “Whittawyers” | 1346 | — | | „ of the Pewterers | 1348 | 1474 | | „ of the Glovers | 1349 | 1639 | | „ of the Shearmen | 1350 | — | | „ of the Braelers | 1355 | — | | Regulations for the trade of Masons | 1356 | 1411 | | Ordinance of the Waxchandlers | 1358 | 1484 | | Regulations for the trade of the Alien Weavers | | | | in London | 1362 | — | | Ordinances of the Plumbers | 1365 | 1612 | | „ of the Pelterers, or Pellipers | 1365 | — | | „ of the Tawyers | 1365 | — | | Regulations for the Taverners | 1370 | — | | Ordinances of the Court-Hand Writers, or | Scriveners | 1373 | 1617 | | „ of the Barbers | 1376 | 1461 | | „ of the Fullers | 1376 | — | | „ of the Hurers, as to fulling | 1376 | — | | „ of the Cheesemongers | 1377 | — | | „ of the Cooks and Pastelers, or | | | | Piebakers | 1378 | 1473 | | „ of the Cutlers | 1380 | 1413 | | „ of the Founders | 1389 | 1615 | | „ of the Blacksmiths | 1394 | 1578 | | „ of the Hurers | 1398 | — | | Ordinance of the Fletchers | 1403 | 1570 | | „ of the Writers of Text-letter, | | | | Limners, and others who bind | | | | and sell books | 1403 | — | | „ of the Forcermakers | 1406 | — | | Ordinances of the Brasiers | 1416 | — | +————————————————————————————————————————————————+—————————+——————————+

The triumph of the crafts was completed in the reign of Edward the Third. At the same time it was a triumph which needed constant watchfulness. This necessity is shown by the case of the rich Pepperers, who seceded in 1345 and set up a company of their own. They were so rich that they commanded the Market. A petition was presented to the King complaining that—

“Great mischief had newly arisen, as well to the King as to the great men and commons, from the merchants called Grocers (grossers), who engrossed all manner of merchandize vendible, and who suddenly raised the prices of such merchandize within the realm; putting to sale by covin, and by ordinances made amongst themselves, in their own society, which they call ‘the Fraternity and Gild of Merchants,’ such merchandizes as were most dear, and keeping in stores the others until times of dearth and scarcity.” (L. Brentano, _History and Development of Gilds_, 1870.)

It was, therefore, ordered that in future all “artificers and people of mysteries” should choose each his own mystery, and should then practise no other.

What was the power of the incorporated Company? The keynote of the difference between the Company and the Fraternity was that the former had authority and the latter had none.

By their new powers, the Companies took over into their own hands the complete control of their trade. Henceforth the function of the Mayor was to compose disputes and settle differences between the Companies, especially in those cases where trades overlapped. The wardens, or the master and wardens, called meetings of the Livery; at these meetings regulations were passed; it was the duty of the wardens to enforce the execution of their own laws. They had the right, which the Fraternities had obtained of the Mayor, to examine the work and to destroy all that was “false.” In all matters concerning the Guild the master and wardens formed the only court: there was no Court of Appeal; their decision was final. There were certain exceptions to their power; the Mayor and Aldermen kept in their own hands the sale and the price of bread, meat, drink and fuel. The punishments were, for light offences, fines, either of money, of wax, or of beer and wine. For serious offences expulsion from the Guild was the worst and last punishment. A man so expelled could not any longer practise his trade in the City. We hear also of ’prentices being flogged for acts of dishonesty or immorality. Every man who practised any trade in the City must needs belong to the Company of this trade. There would have been no power, otherwise, to enforce their laws. What would be the good of calling order for the execution of good work if a colony of workmen set up in the City and refused to obey those laws or to enter their company? It was for self-preservation that this rule was enforced. Afterwards it became a weapon of oppression when the number of members was limited.

The care with which the Companies provided for good work was equalled by the jealousy with which they regarded the admission of new members. They looked to the moral character of a workman as well as his mastery over the craft. They made him serve an apprenticeship varying from seven to ten years. They received the boy in a manner calculated to impress upon his mind the importance of the duties upon which he was entering. At the close of his time he was, with like solemnity, received as a member of the Company, and, therefore, a free man of the City.

Next to looking after the young men, the Company looked after the tools. These were to be inspected regularly; they were to be “testified as good and honest.” The hours were fixed: no one was to work longer than from the beginning of the day till curfew, nor at night by candle-light. One Company, that of the weavers, forbade any work between Christmas and the Purification (Feb. 2). No one was to work on Sunday, or on festivals, or on the eve of a double feast, or on Saturday afternoons. The working men lost their Saturday half-holiday by the Reformation; it has taken them 300 years to get it back again.

As for the ordinances which regulated the conduct of members toward each other, I may pass them over. They were wise; they did what was possible to prevent over-reaching, underselling, taking good servants from a brother member, selling to one member indebted to another member, and, in a word, creating and keeping alive the feeling of brotherhood. Provision was made for those who fell into poverty. As long as any member remained out of work no member was allowed to employ any non-member; and the wife and children of a member might work at the trade with the husband or the father.

In course of time, very speedily in fact, abuses crept in. The trades began to limit the number of members; the richer members seceded and formed other companies—the shoemakers left the cobblers, the tanners left the shoemakers; masters withheld their wages from the workmen; journeymen were not allowed to work on their own account; nor could they become masters; there were strikes among the men, especially in the building trade; the journeymen formed companies of their own which they used for the purpose of raising wages; in the year 1383 a proclamation forbade the combination of workmen. Among the combinations so suppressed were those of the “yomen” saddlers and the “yomen” tailors.

The ground thus cleared, the masters could use the Companies entirely for their own profit and advantage. They endeavoured more and more to restrict the number of members, and to make the handicrafts of London the monopoly of a few families; in this attempt they were only too successful; in the sixteenth century Bacon calls the City Companies “fraternities of evil.” The masters made the apprentices swear that they would not carry on trade on their own account without the masters’ consent. The weakness of the law is shown in the failure of Henry’s law (1537); fixing the entrance fee of an apprentice at 2s. 6d., it rose to 40s., to £10; in the time of James the First to £20, £60, and £100; and in 1720 to £500 and more.

As to the further degeneration and the final ruin of the Craft Guilds, I refer again to Luigo Brentano.[16]

“As the Craft-Gilds everywhere had sunk down to mere societies for the investment of capital, and as their dividends depended entirely on the exclusion of competition, it was unavoidable that the spirit of gain should lead them to restrictions which became always more oppressive for the public. The annoyances they caused were considerably increased by a process which, after the sixteenth century, was of frequent occurrence in all countries; those Craft-Gilds namely, which had hitherto comprised kindred crafts, split up into several, according to the individual trades. These then watched each other with the utmost jealousy in order to prevent encroachments on their mutual rights, and continually fought each other in endless lawsuits. Thus, for instance, the Fletchers and Bowyers in London separated themselves into two corporations in the reign of Elizabeth. One might wonder that, on the one hand, the workmen, whose position was so much deteriorated by the degeneration of the Craft-Gilds, did not at once overthrow their dominion, as the Craft-Gilds had formerly superseded the degenerated Gilds of the patricians, and that, on the other hand, the State did not, in the interest of the public, take any steps towards the abolition of the Gilds, which had already been desired so often. But as to the working-men, though their position, and especially their prospects, had been greatly deteriorated by this degeneration of the Craft-Gilds, their interest was rather a reformation, than the abolition, of those bodies. The Craft-Gilds maintained a number of regulations, which protected the working-men, and in consequence of which their material position appears comfortable and free from cares, if compared with that of the factory hands at the beginning of this century, when these regulations no longer existed. Uprisings of working-men are therefore to be found in those days only in consequence of infringements of Gild-regulations. But as for a reformation of the Craft-Gilds according to the interests of the working-men, the latter were not powerful enough to carry it out against their masters. These still held strongly together in their Gilds, and did not yet, as in later times (and as formerly the patricians), rival each other in weakening competition. The State also had changed, and no longer consisted, as before, of an organisation of many smaller states. As, after the sixteenth century, the State became in all countries continually more centralised by its kinds, it was not possible for the journeymen to act with the same facility as the craftsmen had acted in former times in the towns. Moreover, owing to the men’s isolated method of working, they had not yet acquired the same feeling of solidarity, or the same consciousness of the power of masses, as our factory hands since have. And as to the State abolishing the Craft-Gilds, Kings used the bourgeoisie as a support; first, as Henry VII. in England, against the nobility; and then, because they needed them for pecuniary reasons.... The causes of the overthrow of the Craft-Gilds arose in the bourgeoisie itself. These causes were, the rise of large capital, and its investment in manufacture. The 2nd and 3rd Philip and Mary already indicates the commencement. After stating that ‘the rich clothiers do oppress the weavers, some by setting up and keeping in their houses divers looms, and maintaining them by journeymen and other persons unskilful; some by engrossing of looms into their hands, and letting them out at such unreasonable rents as the poor artificers are not able to maintain themselves by, and much less their wives and families; some again by giving less wages for the workmanship of cloth than in times past, whereby they are forced utterly to forsake their occupations, etc.; it is enacted that no clothier, living out of a city, burgh, or market-town, shall keep more than two looms, nor more than two apprentices,’ etc. In short, the Act endeavours to protect the small masters against the competition of the rich capitalists. But neither this Act nor all the other attempts of the corporations could restrain the process of development, which, especially in consequence of a series of technical discoveries, threw manufacture altogether into the hands of the large capitalists. Handicrafts, and the corporations together with them, lost continually in importance, and only made themselves hated and despised in their endeavour to arrest the natural progress of event.”

Let us sum up the origin and development of the Guild.

1. We have the family united for the protection of all its members, standing by each other, liable for each other.

2. Next we have the association of neighbours together, of many families, to form guilds of religion and brotherly love and mutual protection.

3. The crafts are found uniting for trade purposes, regulating the production, jealously watching the standards of work, fixing hours of work and prices, excluding foreigners, and importing raw material. These trade unions had no powers other than those obtained by common agreement.

4. The formation of a Merchant Guild.

5. The rise of a City aristocracy who usurp the power, own the City land, impose taxes, and are insolent towards the craftsmen.

6. The revolt of the crafts against the aristocracy and their ultimate victory after a long struggle.

7. The creation of trade or craft companies, not guilds, solely for trade purposes, under ordinances approved by the Mayor.

8. The conquest of power by the new companies.

9. The complete subjection of the craftsmen for five hundred years to their own companies.