The History of Freemasonry

by Albert Gallatin Mackey

Chapter 8 - The Anglo-Saxon Guilds

A guild signified among the Saxons a fraternity or sodalily united together for the accomplishment by the cooperative exertions of the members of some predetermined purpose.

The word is derived from the Anglo-Saxon verb gildan, "to pay," and refers to the fact that every member of the Guild was required to contribute something to its support. hence Cowel defines Guilds to be " fraternities originally contributing sums towards a common stock."

Assuming that the characteristic of a Guild organization is that it is a society of men united together for mutual assistance in the accomplishment of an object, or for the cultivation of friendship, or for the observance of religious duties, we may say that the Guild has under some of these aspects existed in all civilized countries from the earliest ages.

The priesthood of Egypt was a fraternity containing in its organization much that resembles the more modern Guild, the priests possessing peculiar privileges and constituting a body isolated from the rest of the nation, by the right of making their own laws and electing their own members, who were received into what may be appropriately called the sacerdotal Guild, by certain ceremonies of initiation. The trades and handicrafts were divided into their various professions. Thus the artificers and the boatmen of the Nile were each a separate class, (1) and as the practice of a trade was made hereditary and was restricted to certain families, we may well suppose that each of these classes constituted a Guild. And it may be remarked, in passing, that while the handicraftsmen and traders were generally held by the higher orders among the Egyptians in low

(1) Kenreck, "Ancient Egypt," vol. ii-, p. 36.

repute, the art of building seems to have occupied a higher place in the national estimation, for while we find no record on the funeral monuments of any of the other working-classes, the names of architects alone appear in the inscriptions with those of priests, warriors, judges, and chiefs of provinces, the only ranks to which the honor of a funeral record was permitted. (1)

The Eranos among the Greeks was in every minute respect the analogue of the Guild. Donnegal defines it to be " a society under certain rules and regulations having a fund, contributed by the members, formed for various purposes, such as succoring indigent members." (2)

Clubs or societies of this kind established for charitable or convivial purposes, and sometimes for both, were very common at Athens, and were also found in other cities of Greece. These Grecian Guilds were founded on the principle of mutual relief. If a member was reduced to poverty, or was in temporary distress for money, he applied to the Eranos, or Guild, and the relief required was contributed by the members. Sometimes it was considered as a loan, to be repaid when the borrower was in better circumstances. The Eranos met at stated periods, generally once a month, had its peculiar regulations, was presided over by an officer styled the Eranarches, and the Eranistai, or members, paid each a monthly contribution. There does not really appear to have been any material difference between the organization of these sodalities and the Saxon and mediaeval social Guilds.

It is scarcely necessary, after the description that has already been given of the Roman Colleges of Artificers, to say that they were analogous to the Craft Guilds. Indeed, it is a part of the hypothesis maintained in the present work, that the latter derived, directly or indirectly, the sugges6on of their peculiar form as associated craftsmen from the former.

The Agape or Love Feasts of the early Christians, though at first established for the commemoration of a religious rite, subsequently, became guild-like in their character, as they were sustained by the contributions of the members, and funds were distributed for the relief of widows, orphans, and the poorer brethren. Indeed, they are supposed by ecclesiastical writers to have imitated the Gre

(1) Kenreck, "Ancient Egypt," vol. ii., p. 37. (2) "Lexicon," in voce.

cian Eranos. The Government looked upon them as secret societies, and they were consequently denounced by imperial edicts.

Brentano, who has written a learned introduction to Toulmin Smith's English Guilds, published by the Early English Text Society, is disposed to trace the origin of Guilds to the feasts of the old German tribes from Scandinavia, which were also called Guilds. Among the German tribes, all events that especially related to the family, such as births, marriages, and deaths, were celebrated by sacrificial feasts in a family reunion. Similar feasts took place on certain public occasions and anniversaries, which often afforded an opportunity for the conclusion of alliances for piracy and plunder by one tribe or another.

I am not inclined to trace the origin of the Saxon and English Guilds to so degenerate a source, and I subscribe to the opinions expressed by Wilda, (1) one of the ablest of the German writers on this subject, who cannot find anything of the true nature of the Guild in these Scandinavian feasts of the family. Hartwig, (2) who has also investigated this point, agrees with Wilda.

Yet it is very evident that the sentiment of the Guild-that is, the desire to establish fraternal relations for mutual aid and protection-was not peculiar to the Saxons. It may rather be contemplated as a human sentiment, arising from the innate knowledge of his own condition, which makes man aware of his infirmity and weakness in isolation, and causes him to seek for strength in association with his fellow-man.

The similitude, therefore, if not the exact form of the Guild, has appeared in almost all civilized nations, even at the remotest periods of their own history. Wherever men accustom themselves to meet on stated occasions, to celebrate some appointed anniversary or festival and to partake of a common meal, that by this regular communion a spirit of fraternity may be established, and every member may feel that upon the association with which he is thus united he may depend for relief of his necessities or protection of his interests, such an association, sodality, or confraternity, call it by whatever name you may, will be in substantial nature a Guild.

Wilda thinks that the peculiar character of the Guilds was

(1) "Das Gildwesen in Mittelalter." (2) "Untersuchungen uber die ersten Anfange des Gildveerens."

derived from the Christian principle of love, and that they actually originated in the monastic unions, where every member shared the benefits of the whole community in good works and prayers, into the advantages of which union laymen were afterward admitted.

But the untenableness of this theory is evident from the fact that the same characteristic of mutual aid existed in the pagan nations long before the advent of Christianity, and was presented in those sodalities which represent the form of the modern Guild.

Besides the admission of Wilda and Hartwig that the early Saxon Guilds were so tinctured with the superstitious customs of the pagan sacrificial feasts, and that the Church had to labor strenuously and for a long time for their suppression, would prove that we must look beyond the monasteries for the true origin of the Guild.

I am inclined, therefore, to attribute them to that spirit of associated labor and union of refreshment which had existed in the Roman Colleges of Artificers, where, as has been already shown, there exited that organized union of interests which continued to be displayed in the Guilds.

I will not aver that the Guilds were the legitimate and uninterrupted successors of the Roman Colleges, but I will say that the suggestion of the advantages to be derived from an association in work, regulated by ordinances that had been agreed on, governed by officers who might judiciously direct the exercise of skill and the employment of labor, the result of all of which was a combination of interests and the growth of a fraternal feeling, was suggested by these Roman institutions, and more especially adopted by the Craft Guilds, which, at a later period in the Middle Ages, directed all the architectural labors in every country of Europe.

Of these Craft Guilds many authors have traced the origin to the Roman Colleges. Brentano does not absolutely deny this hypothesis, but he thinks it needs to be proved historically by its defenders. He thinks it more probable that they descended from " the companies into which, in episcopal and royal towns, the bond handicraftsmen of the same trade were ranged under the superintendence of an official, or that they took their origin from a common subjection to police control or from common obligations to pay certain imposts." (1)

(1) "English Guilds," in Early English Text Society Publications, p. 114.

It was in Germany that these episcopal communities existed. Arnold, in his Constitutional History of the German Free Cities, (1) describes one at Worms in the 11th century. To the Manor of the Bishop were attached, among other dependants, a class of villeins or bondsmen called dagewardi. These were divided into colossi, or workmen on the country manor, and operaiii, or handicraftsmen, who were ranged, according to their trades, into different unions or societies. And it is from these that the continental Guilds of the Middle Ages have been erroneously supposed to have been derived. Still, when their bondage ceased, these societies may have developed themselves into Free Guilds; but the Free Guilds existed before, and the bond unions enforced by episcopal authority must have been organized simply for the convenience of the employer. There could not have been in them any of the peculiar characteristics of the free and independent Guild.

But even if this speculative notion of Brentano, that the Guilds were derived from the enforced association of the episcopal and royal bond handicraftsmen, were admitted to be correct, it would be only lengthening the chain which connects them with the Roman Colleges by the insertion of another link, for we should have to look to these Roman sodalities for the idea of union and concerted action, which in either of those instances must have influenced the combination of handicraftsmen.

However, Brentano immediately repudiates the views which he had just advanced, and admits that they deserve no further consideration, because Wilda has shown that the Craft Guilds did not spring from subjection, but arose from the freedom of the handicraft class.

Now, it is precisely in this point that the Craft Guilds most resemble the Roman Colleges. Founded originally in the earliest days of Rome for the express purpose of giving to the workingclasses a separate and independent place in the public polity, they preserved this independence to the latest times and cultivated the spirt of freedom which sprang naturally from it. Their spirit of freedom and independence indeed often bordered upon excess. Thus they were watched and feared in the latter days of the republic and during the empire because their love of freedom sometimes led them to inaugurate conspiracies against the Government, which

(1) "Verfasserungs geschichte der Deutschen Freistadte."

they supposed had the design of subverting or diminishing their privileges. To protect these privileges and to preserve this freedom they instituted the office of Patrons, men of distinction and influence, not of their trade, but selected from the order of patricians. who were to be the conservators of their franchises.

There is abundant historical evidence that the system of Guilds was well known to the Anglo-Saxons. Mr. Toulmin Smith, to whom we are indebted for the collection of Guild charters of a later date, says that " English Guilds, as a system of widespread practical institutions, are older than any kings of England. They are told of in the books that contain the oldest relics of English laws. The old laws of King Alfred, of King Ina, of King Athelstan, of King Henry I., reproduce still older laws in which the universal existence of Guilds is treated as a well-known fact, and in which it is taken to be a matter of course that everyone belonged to some Guild. As population increased Guilds multiplied; and thus, while the beginnings of the older Guilds are lost in the dimness of time and remain quite unknown, the beginnings of the later ones took place in methods and with accompanying forms that have been recorded." (1)

But it is not upon those laws alone that we have to depend for proof of the antiquity of the Saxon Guilds. The records of a few of the old Guilds still remain and show that the idea of association for mutual assistance, which is the very spirit of the Guild organization, was prevalent at least twelve centuries ago among our Saxon ancestors.

Among the laws of Ina, who reigned from 688 to 725, are two which relate to the liability of the brethren of a Guild in the case of slaying a thief. (2) King Alfred also refers to the duties of the Guild when he decrees that in the case of a crime the Brothers of the Guild (gegyldan) shall pay a portion of the fine. (3)

The Judicia Civitatis Lundonia or Statutes of the City of London, contain several ordinances for the regulation of the various Guilds, and prescribing the duties of the members. The " Cnyhten Gyld," or Young Men's Guild, is mentioned by Stow as existing in the time of King Edgar, who granted the liberty of a Guild for, ever to "thirteene knights or soldiers well beloved of the king

(1) Traditions of the Old Crown House," p. 28. (2) Thorpe's "Anglo Laws," Ina 16, 21. (3) "Leges 'Elf," 27.

and the realme (for service by them done), which requested to have a certaine portion of land on the east part of the city, left desolate and forsaken by the inhabitants by reason of too much servitude." (1)

Thirteen was a favorite number in the religious guilds. Ducange explains the reason in a quotation which he makes from an Epistle to the Church of Utrecht, wherein it is said that a fraternity, commonly called a Guild, was formed, consisting of twelve men to represent the twelve apostles, and one woman to represent the Virgin Mary." (2)

The text of the " writing," or charter, by which Orky instituted a Guild at Abbotsbury has been preserved. Orky was the " huscarl," of one of the household troops, (3) of Edward the Confessor, and there is a charter of that monarch extant in which he gives permission to Tole, the widow of Orky, or Urk, to bequeath her lands to the monastery at the same place in which the Guild was established.

The original charter of Orky's Guild, as written in the AngloSaxon language, with a generally correct translation into English, has been inserted by Thorpe in his Diplomatarium. (4) As it is one of the earliest of the Saxon charters that is extant, and as it will be interesting in enabling the reader to collate its provisions with those of the later Guilds on the pattern of which the Masonic Guilds, or Fraternities, were formulated, it is here presented entire. It must, however, be observed that it was not a Craft, but a religious Guild, and hence we find no allusion to the privileges and obligations of the former, which always composed a part of their ordinances.

ORKY'S GUILD AT ABBOTSBURY.

"Here is made known in this writing that Orky has given the Guildhall and the place at Abbotsbury to the praise of God and St. Peter, and for the guildship to possess now and henceforth of him and his consort for long remembrance. Who so shall avert this, let him account with God at the great day of judgment.

(1) "Survaye of London," p. 85. (2) Ducange, " Glossarium " in voce, Gilda. (3) The "huscarlas," says Kemble, were among the Saxons, and, until after the Norman Conquest, the household troops or immediate body-guard of the King. "The Saxons in England," vol. ii., p. 118. (4) "Diplomatarium Ang.," pp. 605-608. I have ventured to make a few alterations in Thorpe's translation, to conform more strictly to the Anglo-Saxon original.

" Now these are the covenants which Orky and the guild brothers at Abbotsbury have chosen to the praise of God and the honor of St. Peter and their souls' need.

"This is first : Three nights before St. Peter's Mass, from every guild brother one penny, or one penny worth of wax, whichever be most needed in the monastery, and on the mass' eve one broad loaf, well raised and well sifted, for our common aims; and five weeks before Peter's Mass day let every guild brother contribute one guildsester full of clean wheat, and let that be rendered within two days, on pain of forfeiting the entrance fee (ingang), which is three sesters of wheat. And let the wood be rendered within three days after the corn contribution, from every full guild brother (riht gegyldan) (1) one burthern (byrthene) of wood, and two from those who are not full brothers, or let him pay one guild sester of corn. And he who undertakes a charge, and does it not satisfactorily, let him be liable in his entrance fee, and let there be no remission. And let the guild brother who abuses another within the guild, with serious intent, make atonement to all the society to the amount of his entrance, and afterward to the man whom he abused, as he may settle it, and if he will not submit to compensation, let him forfeit the fellows lip and every other privilege of the Guild. And let him who introduces more men than he ought, without leave of the steward and the purveyors (feomera), pay his entrance. And if death befall anyone in our society, let each guild brother contribute one penny at the corpse for the soul, or pay according to three guild brothers (gylde be pry gegildum). (2) And if any one of us be sick within sixty miles, then we shall find fifteen men who shall fetch him; and if he be dead thirty; and they shall bring him to the place which he desired in his life. And if he die in the vicinity, let the steward have warning to what

(1) There is some difficulty here. The words "riht gegyldan" in the original mean literally "lawful members of the Guild; " and the word "ungyldan" signifies "those who are not members," for the particle un has the privative power in Anglo-Saxon as in English. Thorpe translates as "regular and non-regular guild brothers." I have adopted with hesitation Kemble's translation ("Saxons in England," i-, 511). But what are "nonregular " or "not full brethren ? " As " gegyldan " also means " to pay a contribution," we might suppose that the " riht gegyldan " were those who had paid their dues to the guild, and the " ungegyldan " were those who were in arrears. This would be a reasonable explanation of the passage ; but there are grammatical difficulties in the way. (2) Literally translated, but unintelligible. Kemble does not attempt a translation, but gives tlie passage the benefit of a blank.

place the corpse is to go, and let the steward then warn the guild brothers, as many as ever he can ride to or send to, that they come thereto and worthily attend the corpse and convey it to the monastery and earnestly pray for the soul. That will rightly be called a guildlaw which we thus do and it will beseem it well both before God and before the world; for we know not which of us shall soonest depart hence. Now we believe through God's support that this aforesaid agreement will benefit us all if we rightly hold it.

" Let us fervently pray to God Almighty that he have mercy on us ; and also to his holy Apostle St. Peter, that he intercede for us and make our way clear to everlasting rest; because for love of him we have gathered this guild (gegaderodon). He has the power in heaven that he may let into heaven whom he will, and refuse ,whom he will not; as Christ himself said to him in his Gospel: 'Peter, I deliver to thee the key of heaven's kingdom; and whatsoever thou wilt have bound on earth, that shall be bound in heaven, and whatsoever thou wilt have unbound on earth, that shall be un- bound in heaven.' Let us have trust and hope in him that he will ever have care of us here in the world, and after our departure hence, be a help to our souls; May he bring us to everlasting rest."

These covenants, which in later Guild charters are called ordinances, and by the Mason Guilds constitutions, very clearly define the objects of the association. These were not connected with the pursuit of any handicraft, but were altogether of a religious and charitable nature. Infirm brethren were to be supported, the dead were to be buried, prayers were to be said for the repose of their souls, and religious services were to be performed. There was an annual meeting on the feast of St. Peter, and regulations were made for the collection of alms on that day for the benefit of the poor. Especial attention was paid to the preservation of fraternal relations of mutual kindness between the members.

In all this we see the germ of those similar regulations which are met with in the " Constitutions of the Freemasons," compiled in the 15th, 16th, and 17th centuries, and which were, mutatis mutandis, finally developed in the regulations of the Speculative Masons in the 18th century.

The essence of the regulations of this as well as of two other Guilds established about the same time, one at Exeter and the third at Cambridge, was the binding together in close fraternal union of man to man, which was sometimes fortified by oaths for the faithful performance of mutual help.

The charter of the " Thanes' Guild at Cambridge " has been published by both Thorpe and Kemble from a Cottonian manuscript. As it contains some points not embraced in the charter of the Orky Guild, it is here presented, as a further means of collation with the charters of the later Craft Guilds. The original is of course in Anglo. Saxon, and I have adopted the translation of Thorpe, with the exception of a few emendations.

THE THANES' GUILD AT CAMBRIDGE.

Here in this writing is the declaration of the agreement which this society has resolved in the Thanes' Guild at Cambridge. That then is first that each should take an oath to the others on the halidom of true fidelity before God and the world. And all the society should support him who had most right If any guild brother die let all the guildship bring him to where he desired; and let him who should come thereto pay a sester (about eight quarts) of honey ; and let the guildship inherit of the deceased half a farm. And let each contribute two pence to the alms and thereof bring what is fitting to St. Aetheldryth. And if any guild brother be in need of his fellows' aid and it be made known to the fellow nearest to the guild brother and, unless the guild brother himself be nigh, the fellow neglect it, let him pay one pound. If the lord neglect it, let him pay one pound unless he be on the lord's need or confined to his bed. And if any one slay a guild brother let there be nothing for compensation but eight pounds. But if the slayer scorns the compensation let all the guildship avenge the guild brother and all bear tile feud. But if a guild brother do it let all bear alike. And if any guild brother slay any man and he be an avenger by compulsion and compensate for his violence and the slain be a nobleman let each guild brother contribute half a mark for his aid; if the slain be a churl (ceorl) two oras (100 pence) if he be Welch one ora. But if the guild brother slay any one through wantonness and with guile, let himself bear what he has wrought. And if a guild brother slay his guild brother through his own folly let him suffer on the part of the kindred for that which he has violated, and buy back his guildship with eight pounds, or forever forfeit our society and friendship. And if a guild brother eat or drink with him who slew his guild brother unless it be before the king or the bishop of the diocese or the aldermen, let him pay one pound unless with his two bench comrades (gesetlung) he can deny that he knew him. If any guild brother abuse another let him pay a sester of honey unless he can clear himself with his two bench comrades. If a servant (cniht) draw a weapon let the lord pay one pound and let the lord get what he can and let all the guildship aid him in getting his money. And if a servant wound another let the lord avenge it and all the guildship together, so that seek he whatever he may (sece whet he sece) he have not life (feorh). And if a servant sit within the storeroom let him pay a sester of honey ; and if any one have a footstool let him do the same. And if any guild brother die out of the land or be taken sick let his guild brethren fetch him and convey him, dead or alive, to where he may desire, under the same penalty that has been said, if he die at home and the guild brother attend not the corpse And let the guild brother who does not attend his morning discourse (morjen space) pay his sester of honey."

In this agreement of an early Guild, we will again notice that, though the regulations are few, they all partake of that spirit of mutual kindness which has characterized the Guild organizations of all ages, and of which the Masonic Lodge is but a fuller development

The principal points worthy of notice are as follows:

1.There was an oath of fidelity.

2.The sick were to be nursed and the dead buried.

3.A brother was bound to give aid to another brother if he were called upon.

4. If a member got into trouble or difficulty the Guild was to come to his assistance.

5. The injuries or wrongs of a member were to be espoused by the Guild.

6. To associate knowingly with one who had done injury to a member was a penal offense.

7. The severest punishment that could be inflicted on a member was expulsion from the body.

These seven points embrace the true spirit of the Masonic institution, and may be advantageously collated with the mediaeval Constitutions, and with the regulations and obligations of the modern Lodges.

That this collation of the older and the newer Constitutions may be more conveniently made, it will be necessary to anticipate the chronological sequence, and to present the reader the ordinances of two Craft Guilds, both of the 14th century.

The first of these Constitutions, though the date affixed to it makes it apparently sixty years later than the second, was really much older. Foulmin Smith says that "the internal evidence shows that the substance of the ordinances is older than the date given." As, in the beginning, they are said to be ordinances " made and of ancient time assigned and ordained by the founders of the Guild," he conjectures that they were first written in Latin, and that what we have " are the early translation of a lost original with some later additions and alterations."

The document now presented to the reader, and which has been taken from Toulmin Smith's collection of English Guilds, which was published by the Early English Text Society, is the Guild of the Smiths of Chesterfield. The Guild united with that of the Holy Cross of Merchants in 1387. But as has already been said, the date of its institution must have been much earlier.

GUILD OF THE SMITHS OF CHESTERFIELD.

(The paragraphs are numbered for the convenience of future reference. There is no numbering in the original.)

1. "This is the agreement of the Masters and brethren of the Guild of Smiths of Chesterfield, worshipping before the greater cross in the nave of the church of All Saints there. The head men are an Elder Father, Dean, Steward and four Burgesses by whose oversight the guild is managed. Lights are to be found and be burnt before the cross on days named.

2. " If any brother is sick and needs help, he shall have a half- penny daily from the common fund of the guild until he has got well. If any of them fall into want they shall go, singly, on given days, to the houses of the brethren where each shall be courteously received, and there shall be given to him, as if he were the Master of the house, whatever he wants of meat, drink and clothing, and he shall have a halfpenny like those that are sick and then he shill go home in the name of the Lord.

3. " On the death of a brother twelve lights shall be kept burning round the body, until buried, and offerings shall be made. Round the body of a stranger or of the son of a brother, dying in the house of a brother four lights shall be kept burning.

4. " If it befall that any of the brethren, by some hapless chance, and not through his own folly, is cast into prison, all his brethren are bound to do what they can to get him freed and to defend him.

5. "If any sick brother makes a will, having first bequeathed his soul to God, his body to burial and the altar gifts to the priests, he shall then not forget to bequeath something to the guild according to his means.

6. " Whenever any one has borrowed any money from the guild, either to traffic with or for his own use, under promise to repay it on a given day, and he does not repay it, though three times warned, he shall be put under suspension, denunciation and excommunication-all contradiction, cavil and appeal aside-until he shall have wholly paid it. If he has been sick, the claim of the guild must be first to be satisfied. And if he dies intestate, his goods shall be held bound to the guild, to pay what is owing to it, and shall not be touched or sequestrated until full payment has been made to the guild.

7. " Should it happen, [which God forbid] that any brother is con- tumacious; or sets himself against the brethren; or gainsays any of these ordinances; or being summoned to a feast will not come; or does not obey the Elder Father when he ought nor show him due respect; or does not abide by what has been ordained by the Elder Father and greater part of the guild : he shall pay a pound of wax and half a mark. Moreover he shall be put under suspension, denunciation and excommunication, without any contradiction, cavil or appeal.

8. " Any one proved to be in debt, or a wrong-doer, shall be deemed excommunicate, and shall presume to come to the meetings of the brethren, his company shall be shunned by all, so that no brother shall dare to talk with him, unless to chide him, until he has fully satisfied the Elder Father and the brethren, as well touching any penalty as touching the debt or wrong doing.

9. " To keep and faithfully perform these constitutions, all the brethren have bound themselves by touch of relics."

Although, as its name imports, this is the sodality of a body of handicraftsmen, yet there is no reference to any regulations for work. In this respect it more resembles a Social than a Craft Guild. This deficiency is, however, supplied in the ordinances of the Tailors' Guild at Lincoln, which is next to be given. This circumstance is ,one of the internal evidences that the Smiths' Guild was much older than its charter purports.

The Tailors' was a Craft Guild, and its provisions for the regulation of labor, though few, are striking and may be profitable compared with the more developed system subsequently adopted by the Masonic Craft Guilds. The date of the institution of the Tailors' Guild is the year 1328. The paragraphs are here numbered for reference, as in the case of the former Guild.

THE TAILORS' GUILD AT LINCOLN.

1.." All the brethren and sisters shall go in procession in the feast of Corpus Christi.

2. " None shall enter the Guild as whole brother until he has paid his entry, a quarter of barley, which must be paid between Michaelmas and Christmas. And if it is not then paid, he shall pay the price of the best malt as sold in Lincoln Market on Midsummer day. And each shall pay 12 pence to the ale.

3. If any one of the Guild falls into poverty (which God forbid) and has not the means of support he shall have every week 7 pence out of the goods of the Guild; out of which he must discharge such payments as become due to the Guild.

4. " If any one dies within the city, without leaving the means for burial, the Guild shall find the means according to the rank of him who is dead.

5. " If any one wishes to make pilgramage to the Holy Land each brother and sister shall give him a penny; and if to St. James or to Rome a halfpenny; and they shall go with him outside the gates of the city of Lincoln, and on his return they shall meet him and go with him to his mother church.

6. " If a brother or sister dies outside the city on pilgrimage or elsewhere, and the brethren are assured of his death they shall do for ,his soul what would have been done if he had died in his own parish.

7. "When one of the Guild dies, he shall, according to his means, bequeath 5 shillings or 40 pence or what he will to the Guild.

8. " Every brother and sister coming into the Guild, shall pay to the chaplain as the others do.

9. " There shall be four mornspeeches held in every year, to take order for the welfare of the Guild ; and whoever heeds not his summons shall pay two pounds of wax.

10. " If any Master of the Guild takes any one to live with him as an apprentice in order to learn the work of the tailors' craft, the apprentice shall pay 2 Shillings to the Guild or his Master for him, or else the Master shall lose his Guildship.

11. " If any quarrel or strife arises between any brethren or sisters of the Guild, (which God forbid) the brethren and sisters shall with the advice of the Graceman and Wardens do their best to make peace between the parties, provided the case is such as can be thus settled without a breach of the law. And whoever will not obey the judgment of the brethren shall lose his Guildship, unless he thinks better of it within three days, and then he shall pay a stone of wax, unless he have grace.

12. " On feast days, the brethren and the sisters shall have three flagons and six tankards with prayers and the ale in the flagons shall be given to the poor who most need it. After the feast, a Mass shall be said and offerings made for the souls of those who are dead.

13. " Four lights shall be put round the body of any dead brother or sister until burial and the usual services and offerings shall follow.

14. " If any Master of the Craft keeps any lad or sewer of another Master for one day after he has well known that the lad wrongly left his Master, and that they had not parted in a friendly and reasonable manner he shall pay a stone of wax.

15. " If any Master of the Craft employs any lad as a sewer, that sewer shall pay 5 pence or his Master for him.

16. " Each brother and sister shall every year give 1 penny for charity when the Dean of the Guild demands it, and it shall be given in the place where the giver thinks it most needed together with a bottle of ale from the store of the Guild.

17." Officers who are elected and will not serve are to pay fines."

It will be seen, on an inspection of these seventeen ordinances, that the Guild of Tailors of Lincoln combined the character of a Religious and a Craft Guild, The 15th and the 16th statutes regulate the conduct of the Masters in the prosecution of their trade, but all the others are appropriate to the regulation of religious services, to the practice of charity, and the inculcation of friendly and fraternal relations among the members.

In process of time the Craft Guilds, without losing altogether their religious features, which have been preserved to this day in the institution of Speculative Masonry, which is descended from them, began to enlarge the number of their ordinances for the regulation of work and workmen. As it will be necessary to give directly a specimen of the old Constitutions of the English Mediaeval Masons, which were nothing more nor less than ordinances of Masonic Craft Guilds, it will be proper, at the expense of a little recapitulation, to glance at the progress of these Craft Guilds. Some of the facts will refer equally to the Craft Guilds of the Continent, but only incidentally, as that topic will be treated hereafter as an independent topic. For the present our attention must be directed exclusively to the rise and growth of the English Guilds of Craftsmen

It has been already seen that in the 11th century, and even before, the inhabitants of a town were divided by the officers who governed the municipality, into freemen and bondsmen. To this last class belonged the handicraftsmen who were subjected to the payment of certain taxes and the performance of certain feudal services.

But there was also a class of free handicraftsmen who were not, as respects the carrying on of their business, subjected to the same servile indignities as the bondsmen. As the law made the distinction between the bond and free craftsmen, there was no necessity for the latter to enter into any association for the protection of their rights and privileges. They already formed a part of the governing and law-making power of the municipality, and were thus able to protect themselves.

But by a course of revolutions, which it is unnecessary to detail, the free handicraftsmen lost their place in the general Guild of the citizens. The burghers then began to feel a desire to subject them to the same imposts as were paid by the bond craftsmen. (1) These burghers, anxious for the prosperity of their towns, allowed foreigners. on the payment of a fee, to carry on their trade, which of course

(1) Brentano, "Development of Guilds," p. 115

greatly affected the interests of the free craftsmen, by introducing competition.

Hence arose the necessity of association for that mutual protection of interests, which could not have been effected if the craftsmen continued in an isolated state, and from this arose the formation of Craft Guilds, which took the suggestion of their form from the older Guilds which had preceded them, most of which were, however, of a social or religious character.

The Craft Guilds thus established to suppress the encroachments of the burghers on their rights consisted at first, both in England and on the Continent, in France and in Germany especially, of the most eminent of the Craftsmen who were free, freedom being an indispensable qualification for admission into the fraternity.

But after the bond craftsmen were, by the liberal and humanizing progress of the age, emancipated from their bondage, many of them, leaving the companies into which they had been distributed during their bondage by there masters, became members of the Guilds of free craftsmen.

So now the handicrafts were divided into those who had always been free and those who had originally been bondsmen. And the only way in which the ci-devant bond craftsman could mingle on equal terms with the free craftsmen was by obtaining admission into and becoming, as it is called, "free of the Guild." This was a high privilege and not easily conceded or obtained.

The free craftsman always held aloof from the craftsman who was not free, the word free not being used as the opposite of bondsman, but only to indicate one who was not a freeman of the Guild and who worked outside of its regulations.

We find that this allusion to freemen of the Guild is constantly used in the old charters. Such expressions as Free Carpenters, Free Weavers, Free Tailors, are not, it is true, to be found on record, though it is not unlikely that they were in colloquial use. But in the charter of the Guild of Tailors of Exeter, granted by Edward IV., and the original of which is in the archives of the Corporation of Exeter, whence it was copied by Toulmin Smith, (1) is the following heading of one of the sections of the Ordinances: "The Othe of the Free Brotherys "-i.e., The Oath of the Free Brothers.

(1) "English Guilds," in Early English Text Society Publications, p. 318.

" Free Brothers " was a recognized expression in the early period of the organization of Craft Guilds, to indicate one who was a freeman of the Guild. The Masons appear to have preserved the use of the epithet with great pertinacity and used the term " Freemason " to distinguish those who were free of the Guild from those "rough layers" or "cowans" who had not been admitted to the privileges of the fraternity and with whom they were forbidden to work.

In every Masonic Constitution that has been preserved is the ordinance that " no Mason shall make any mould, square, or rules to any rough layer." The Free Mason could not, by the laws of the Guild, engage in labor with one who was not free.

It is thus that I trace the derivation of the word " Freemason," used now exclusively to indicate the member of a Lodge of Speculative Masons, but originally to denote a Mason who was free of his Guild.

I think this derivation much better than that which was the origin of the term to the French Frere Macon, or Brother Mason. Such a derivation would necessarily assign the birth of the English Masonic Guilds to a French parentage, a theory not only wholly unsupported by historical authority, but actually in contradiction to it. Indeed the French themselves have repudiated the idea, for they call a Freemason not a " Frere Macon," or brother Mason, but a " Franc Macon," Franc being the old French for free.

At first the Craft Guilds were voluntary associations, and could enforce their regulations only by the common consent of the members, but as in time some of these, unwilling to submit to the restrictions laid upon them, would withdraw and carry on their trade independently, it was found necessary to obtain the authority from the law, of the land to punish such contumacy and to protect the interests of the Guilds.

This was effected by a confirmation of the Guild ordinances by the lord, the citizens, or afterward by the King, and in this way arose the charters under which, after the time of Henry I., all the Craft Guilds acted and continued to act to the present day.

This process did not, however, entirely cure the evil, and in the 12th century artisans of different trades and mysteries in London, being unwilling to unite with the incorporated Guilds or being un, able to obtain admission into them, erected themselves into fraternities without the necessary powers of incorporation. These were not recognized by the companies of freemen and were condemned by the king for their contumacious proceedings. (1) They were opprobriously denominated " Adulterine Guilds," and they remind us of the Collegia illicita, or unlawful Colleges, among the Romans, as well as of the "clandestine Lodges " among the modern Speculative Masons.

The number of these Adulterine Guilds in the year 1180 was, according to Madox in his History of the Exchequer, fourteen, but no Guild of Masons is enumerated in the list.

Before proceeding to a comparison of the statutes, ordinances, or regulations of these early Guilds with the Masonic constitutions contained in the Old Records of the Order, it will be proper, at the expense of some recapitulation, to survey briefly the condition and character of these Saxon and Norman Craft Guilds. I have said on a former occasion, and here repeat the assertion, that an investigation of the usages of these Mediaeval Guilds and a comparison of their regulations with the old Masonic Constitutions will furnish a fertile source of interest to the Masonic archaeologist and will throw much light on the early history of Freemasonry.

The custom of meeting on certain stated occasions was one of the most important of the Guild regulations. 'These meetings of the whole body of the Guild were sometimes monthly, but more generally quarterly. At these meetings all matters concerning the common interests of the Guild were discussed, and the meetings were held with certain ceremonies, so as to give solemnity to the occasion. The Guild chest, which was secured by several locks, was opened, and the charter, ordinances, and other valuable articles contained in it were exposed to view, on which occasion all the members uncovered their heads in token of reverence.

The Guild elected its own officers. This was a prerogative peculiar to the English Guilds. On the Continent the presiding officer was frequently appointed by the municipal or other exterior authorities.

In the early Saxon Guilds, and for some time after the Conquest, the presiding officer was called the " Alderman." At a later

(1) Allen, "New History of London," vol. i., p. 61.

period we find him designated sometimes as the "Graceman," sometimes as the "Early Father," and sometimes by other titles.

But eventually it became the uniform usage to call the chief officers of the Guild the " Master and Wardens," a usage which has continued ever since to prevail and which was adopted by the Speculative Masons.

The Craft Guilds not only directed themselves to the welfare of their temporal concerns, such as the regulation of their trade, which was called a " Mystery," but also took charge of spiritual matters, and for that purpose employed a priest or chaplain, who conducted their religious services and offered up masses or prayers for the dead. In this connection each Guild appears to have had a patron saint, and they were often connected with a particular church, where, on appointed occasions, they performed special services, and received in return a participation in the advantages of all the prayers of the church.

In these respects they resembled the Roman Colleges of Artificers, which, it will be remembered, were often connected with a particular temple, and the College was dedicated to the God worshipped therein.

Almsgiving was also practiced by the Guild, and while there was a general distribution of food and money to the poor indiscriminately, special attention was paid to the wants of their own indigent members, their widows and orphans.

To support the current expenses of the Guild an entrance-fee was demanded from every one on his admission, and all the members contributed monthly or quarterly a certain sum to the general fund.

The Guild administered justice among its members, and inflicted punishments for offenses committed against the statutes of the Guild. These punishments consisted of pecuniary fines, or of suspension, or even expulsion, commonly called excommunication. They discouraged suits at law between the members, and endeavored to settle all disputes, if possible, by arbitration.

Finally, there was an annual festival on the day of the patron saint of the Guild, when the members assembled for religious worship, almsgiving, and feasting. It was deemed an offense for any one to be absent from this general assembly without sufficient excuse. There was also a ceremony of admission and an oath administered to the candidate on his reception. As these will be of great importance in a comparison of the usages of the Saxon Guilds with the Masonic sodalities, I copy the following form of admission and oath from the charter of St. Catherine's Guild at Stamford. The date of this charter is 1494, but Smith observes that there is internal evidence showing that the Guild was established at a much earlier period.

ADMISSION OF BROTHERS AND SISTERS IN THE GUILD OF ST. CATHERINE.

Then it is ordained that when the said first even-song is done, the Alderman and his brethren shall assemble in their hall and drink; and there have a courteous communication for the weal of the said Guild. And then shall be called forth all those that shall be admitted brethren or sisters of the Guild; and the Alderman shall examine them in this wise: 'Sir or Syse be ye willing to be brethren among us in this Guild and will desire and ask it in the worship of Almighty God, our Blessed Saint Mary and of the Holy Virgin and Martyr Saint Catherine in whose name this Guild is founded and in the way of charity ? And by their own will they shall answer, 'Yea' or Nay. Then the Alderman shall command the Clerk to give this oath to them in form and manner following:

"'This hear you, Alderman: I shall true man be to God Almighty, to our Lady Saint Mary, and to that Holy Virgin and Martyr Saint Catherine in whose honor and worship this Guild is founded; and shall be obedient to the Alderman of this Guild and to his successors and come to him and his brethren when I have warning and not absent myself without cause reasonable. I shall be ready at scot and lot and all my duties truly pay and do; the ordinances, constitutions and rules what with the council of the same Guild, keep, obey and perform and to my power maintain to my life's end; so help me God and halidome and by this book.' And then kiss the book and be lovingly received with all the brethren; and then they drink about; and after that depart for that right"

Such is a brief sketch of the principal characteristics of the early Guilds. The main object of presenting it has been to enable the reader to compare these regulations with those of the Old Masonic Constitutions of the 15th, 16th, and 17th centuries, so as to show the growth and development of the Masonic law from them. It will, for the sake of convenient reference, be therefore necessary to select from these Old Masonic Constitutions one at least, and one of the earliest, that the reader may in making his comparison have the regulations of the Guild and the charges of the Masons side by side before him. But this investigation will perhaps be better continued in a separate chapter.

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