honour masses were said, and they went in solemn procession to their churches on the days of the recognised feasts. Even in these early times conventions were not uncommon between the several religious guilds, as, for example, one was held between the saddlers of London and the canons of St. Martinle-Grand, by which the former were admitted into equal brotherhood and partnership of masses, orisons, and other good deeds, with the canons. The members were obliged to engage in devotions and services for the souls of their departed brethren, and often, also, to aid pilgrims and pilgrimages to the Holy Land, and to other places.

§ 6. (2) Those guilds were instituted for the purposes of Christian charity, for the mutual assistance of each other in all cases of emergency-in old age, sickness, poverty (if not brought on by their own folly), of wrongful imprisonment, loss by fire, flood, or shipwreck, aid by loans, provision of work, and lastly, burial of the dead. They specially included the assistance of the poor and sick, and the visitation and comfort of prisoners, who were not members of the guild.

§ 7. (3) The advancement of education was not forgotten, for we find among the objects of those religious guilds provision for the aid of poor scholars, the maintenance of schools, and the payment of schoolmasters.

§ 8. (4) Sometimes a guild was founded for a special purpose, such as the Corpus Christi guild at York, where all the crafts joined in a procession for the celebration of the consecrated host, which is one of the greatest feasts of the Roman Catholic Church.

$ 9. (5) There were also guilds for the representation of religious plays, which practice was common in all countries during the Middle Ages. Of this class may be mentioned the Guild of the Lord's Prayer at York, the Guilds of St. Elene, of St. Mary, and of Corpus Christi at Beverley.

§ 10. (6) The performance of secular plays and the institution of pastimes were also the objects of some guilds, as, for instance, the guilds at Stamford, and at Rouen.

§ 11. (7) All objects of common interest for which in these later days special societies and associations are established,

such as benefit societies and insurance companies, were provided for by the guilds of the Middle Ages, the motive and principle of such unions being Christian charity, instead of, as now, profit. Similar institutions still exist, modified in form, in many Catholic countries.

§ 12. As a rule, people of all ranks participated in the religious guilds; sometimes, however, people out of a certain rank were not admitted, or special regulations were made in regard to their admission. This is well illustrated in the ordinances of the Guild of St. Michael, at Lincoln, founded on Easter Eve, A.D. 1350, in which it is stated that "whereas this guild was founded by folks of common and middling rank, it is ordained that no one of the rank of mayor or bailiff shall become a brother of the guild, unless he is found to be of humble, good, and honest conversation, and is admitted by the choice and common consent of the brethren and sisteren of the guild." It was further provided that "no one shall have any claim to office in this guild on account of the honour and dignity of his personal rank." In this instance women were members of the guild.

§ 13. In some cases there were special liveries for the guild; these were to be worn at their feasts, at which drinking-bouts were sometimes so general, that direct references are made to them in the guild-statutes, in which it is stated that "not eating and drinking, but mutual assistance and justice, were the principal objects of the guild."

§14. The expenses for securing and maintaining the objects of these guilds were obtained by means of entrance fees, contributions, gifts, and legacies of members. Sometimes the contributions were fixed, at other times they varied according to the wants and requirements of the fraternity.

$15. The organisation of the religious guilds was the same as that of all other guilds down to the time of the institution of their latest representatives, the modern trade unions; the officers were chosen at their meetings, and fines were inflicted for not accepting office when elected. Often the members had, on being admitted, to declare by oath that they would fulfil all their obligations.

§ 16. Persons of ill-repute were not to be admitted, and members guilty of misconduct were to be excluded. Rules were made and enforced with regard to proper behaviour, and even as to decent dress, at guild-meetings, some of which regulations are found to be in existence even to this day.

§ 17. Disputes among the members were to be decided by the guild, and disclosing the affairs of the fraternity was to be severely punished. Both of these regulations are still, to some extent, extant in the modern trade union.

§ 18. In those places where the guild had no special hall of its own, its meetings were often held in the Town Hall; which shows that these ancient fraternities enjoyed a high consideration, and were held in good repute in those days.

§ 19. As to the guilds among the clergy, the capitularies contain ordinances against the extravagances of priests at funeral meals, and at the usual periodical feastings. No priest was to get drunk; nor was he to empty goblets to the health of saints, or to the soul of the deceased; neither was he to force others to drink, nor get drunk at the desire of others. They were not to burst out into indecent noise, or roaring laughter, nor sing vain songs, or tell inane jokes; neither were they to allow scandalous performances of bears or female dancers to be made before them, nor delight in mummeries, "because this was heathenish and forbidden by the Canon law." And further, they were not on every occasion to provoke each other, or anybody else, to passion and quarrel, and still less to fighting and murder; nor was he who was provoked to assail at once his provoker. The priests were further charged to breakfast with honesty and the fear of God; holy stories and admonitions were to be read, and hymns sung, and every one was to go home in good time. Exactly the same ordinances are also contained in the capitularies of Bishop Walter of Orleans, dated in the same year (858). These documents give us a curious glimpse into the character of the priesthood of those early times; and it is somewhat singular, to say the least, that the special charges, as to the extravagances usual at these feasts, are addressed, not to the laity, but to the clergy.

§ 20. In later times the clergy assembled on the first day of

each month for divine service, for deliberation on their interests, and for common meals, from whence they formed themselves into special fraternities, which were called the "Guilds of the Kalenders," from their meetings being on the first of each month. The objects of these guilds were subsequently extended to the exercise of any good works, especially towards the guildbrothers themselves, the assistance of the poor, the furnishing of church attire, keeping old records, and the maintenance of schools. Those fraternities were originally confined to the clergy, but later on laymen were admitted to take part in them. The number of members in those guilds was often limited, sometimes to twelve, at other times to twenty-four; in which case the proportion between lay and clerical members was fixed. The laymen, however, held a subordinate position; they occupied separate seats at the meals, and they had no vote in the deliberations. In 1422, the wives of laymen were admitted to the meals, but only on condition that the one whose turn it was should provide the meal, and wait at table.

§ 21. There were also special guilds for various classes and ranks, called the Major and Minor Guilds of the Kalenders, one of which existed in most towns, and in the larger towns more than one. Their organisation was, in general, the same as in all other guilds; often the president was called Dean; they also had halls, to which the brothers used to resort "to beer and to wine."

§ 22. These religious guilds continued to exist in great numbers down to the time of the Reformation, when the whole fabric was shaken to its foundation, and in all countries where Protestantism gained the ascendency they were by law abolished, as religious communities. In England the treasures of these ancient guilds were confiscated in favour of the king and his courtiers; but on the Continent the property and income of these guilds were delivered over to the common treasury for the use of the poor, to poor-houses, hospitals, and schools, according to the intention of the original founders.

§ 23. With regard to the "confiscation" of the property of these guilds, the following extracts, from the excellent introduction to the "English Gilds," by Miss Lucy Toulmin Smith,

represent the opinions of a man, the late Mr. Toulmin Smith, who had devoted more time and attention to these matters than almost any other Englishman, and whose conclusions, therefore, are entitled to every consideration and respect.

§ 24. "Under the Act for the Dissolution of Colleges (37 Hen. VIII. c. 4) the possessions of certain fraternities, brotherhoods, and guilds that had been dissolved with the colleges and chantries, were vested in the Crown; and the king was empowered to send out commissioners to seize the possessions of others, under the plea that they should be used and exercised to more godly and virtuous purposes,' the commissioners being directed to return certificates 'in writing of their doings in the same into the Court of Chancery.' The Act of 1 Ed. VI. c. 14 went further than this; after completing the demolition of colleges, free chapels, and chantries, it proceeded not only separately by name to vest in the king all sums of money devoted by any manner of corporations, guilds, fraternities, companies or fellowships, or mysteries, or crafts,' to the support of a priest, obits, or lights (which might be taken under the colour of religion), but to hand over to the Crown 'all fraternities, brotherhoods, and guilds, being within the realm of England and Wales, and other the king's dominions; and all manors, lands, tenements, and other hereditaments belonging to them or any of them,' excepting certain of them which were named, being trading guilds, which proviso saved those in the city of London." "The Act of 37 Hen. VIII. c. 4, passed in 1545, put it that this wanton and wicked pillage of public property was necessary for the maintenance of these present wars; but it also cleverly put into one group 'colleges, freechapelles, chantries, hospitalles, fraternities, brotherhedds, and guyldes.' The Act of 1 Ed. VI. c. 14 was still more ingenious, for it held up the dogma of purgatory to abhorrence, and began to hint at grammar schools. The object of both Acts was the same. All the possessions of all guilds, except such as could creep out of their provisions on the score of being trading guilds, became vested by these two Acts in the Crown; and the unprincipled courtiers who had devised and helped the scheme, gorged themselves out of this wholesale plunder, of what was,