y in search of work. They had between them a
sum of only about eight pounds, so that it was necessary for them to
take immediate steps to obtain employment.

They thought themselves fortunate in getting the promise of a job from
Mr. Rennie, the celebrated engineer, whose works were situated at the
south end of Blackfriars Bridge. Mr. Rennie sent the two young men to
his foreman, with the request that he should set them to work. The
foreman referred them to the secretary of the Millwrights' Society, the
shop being filled with Union men, who set their shoulders together to
exclude those of their own grade, however skilled, who could not
produce evidence that they had complied with the rules of the trade.
Describing his first experience of London Unionists, nearly half a
century later, before an assembly of working men at Derby, Mr.
Fairbairn said, "When I first entered London, a young man from the
country had no chance whatever of success, in consequence of the trade
guilds and unions. I had no difficulty in finding employment, but
before I could begin work I had to run the gauntlet of the trade
societies; and after dancing attendance for nearly six weeks, with very
little money in my pocket, and having to 'box Harry' all the time, I
was ultimately declared illegitimate, and sent adrift to seek my
fortune elsewhere. There were then three millwright societies in
London: one called the Old Society, another the New Society, and a
third the Independent Society. These societies were not founded for
the protection of the trade, but for the maintenance of high wages, and
for the exclusion of all those who could not assert their claims to
work in London and other corporate towns. Laws of a most arbitrary
character were enforced, and they were governed by cliques of
self-appointed officers, who never failed to take care of their own
interests." [3]

Their first application for leave to work in London having thus
disastrously ended, the two youths determined to try their fortune in
the country, and with aching hearts they started next morning before
daylight. Their hopes had been suddenly crushed, their slender funds
were nearly exhausted, and they scarce knew where to turn. But they
set their faces bravely northward, and pushed along the high road,
through slush and snow, as far as Hertford, which they reached after
nearly eight hours' walking, on the moderate fare during their journey
of a penny roll and a pint of ale