English Gilds. *

the trade , would carry on his trade without belonging to the Gild . It was impossible either to check this , and prevent detriment arising from it , or to enforce their regulation of the trade in a legitimate manner , unless the Gild had been previously

acknowledged by the lord of the town or the body of citizens . And thus , though the Craft Gilds as voluntary societies did not need confirmation by the authorities at their birth , yet this confirmation became afterwards of the greatest importance

when these Gilds wanted to be recognized as special and independent associations , which were thenceforth to regulate the trade iastead of the authori . ties of the town . This once obtained , all further protective measures would follow as a matter of

course . This transfer of all trade concerns to the management and jurisdiction of the craft gild was generally accomplished by a confirmation of their ordinance , that every one carrying on the trade

within the town or a certain district , should join and belong to the gild . And in return for this privilege the gild was yearly to pay certain taxes . To the complete independence of the craft gilds ,

it was indispensable that they should have the right of freely electing a warden for regulating their trade and for managing the gild . In England this freedom was never restricted ; at least , I know nothing to the contrary from the accounts

of English craft gilds . But on the Continent the right of appointing the warden of a craft gild varied according to the nature of the origin of the

gild , or the degree of independence which the particular handicraft enjoyed at the time when its gild was recognised . Thus the craft gilds which the free handicraftsmen formed amongst themselves possessed , of old , absolute independence in

the election of their warden , as , for instance , the weavers' gild at Cologne , and the craft gilds in Flanders . At Bale , on the contrary , where the craft gilds sprang from the companies of bondmen previously mentioned , the bishop appointed

the warden , according to the oldest charters , and in the probably less important trades ( Spinnwetem and Butchers , 1248 ); whilst in 1260 the tailors ( who were at the same time cloth merchants ) elected their own warden . In 1157 , Archbishop

Wichmann of Magdeburg had , from truly generous motives , granted to the shoemakers the ri ght of free election of their warden . This instance was , however , probably as unique , as the disposition

English Gilds. *

was rare . In Paris , the provost in the thirteenth century appointed and deposed , as he pleased , the wardens of the Oordiers ( rope-makers ) , and the Poulaillers ( poulterers ); but the Muvistes ( bathkeepers ) elected freely and independently three

preud'hommes for regulating their trade . Though political power , did not continue everywhere in-the hands of the handicraftsmen , they yet retained everywhere the independentgovernment and jurisdiction over their trade ; and

everywhere the fundamental principle of their trade policy prevailed , namely , the protection to live freely and independently on an industry based on small capital and labour . This period of development of the craft gilds

was followed by a further extension of them in the beginning of the fourteenth century , and soon afterwards by their degeneration . But before I enter upon this question , and upon the abuses which undisputed possession of their privileges

and the full sway in all trade matters produced in them , I wish to speak more fully of the constitution of the craft gilds during the first stage of their growth . This constitution was but the perfect expression of the wants which called forth the

craft gilds , and of the task which they had to perform . Their fundamental principle was the same as that of the frith gilds , that is , of those artificial unions which sprang up to replace the natural family compact , and to secure the protection which the latter afforded to their members in

former times ( see Parti . ) The craft gilds themselves first sprang up amongst the free craftsmen , when they were excluded from the fraternities which had taken the place of the family unions , and later among the bondmen , when they ceased

to belong to the familia of their lord . Like those frith gilds , the object of the early craft gilds was to create relations as if among brothers ; and above all things , to grant to their members that assistance which the members of a family might expect from that family . ( To he Continued ?)

Es-Sakhrah.

ES-SAKHRAH .

A MASONIC MYTH OF THE DAYS OF SOLOMON . Every reader of Holy Land literature , and few there are at the present day who do not give some attention to it , has read of that mysterious rock , called by the Mohammedans Es-Sakhrah ( " the rock" ) that rears up its head in nature ' s