(Drawing made in 1826.)]

The craft gilds existed usually under the authority of the town
government, though frequently they obtained authorization or even a
charter from the crown. They were formed primarily to regulate and
preserve the monopoly of their own occupations in their own town, just
as the gild merchant existed to regulate the trade of the town in
general. No one could carry on any trade without being subject to the
organization which controlled that trade. Membership, however, was not
intentionally restricted. Any man who was a capable workman and
conformed to the rules of the craft was practically a member of the
organization of that industry. It is a common requirement in the
earliest gild statutes that every man who wishes to carry on that
particular industry should have his ability testified to by some known
members of the craft. But usually full membership and influence in the
gild was reached as a matter of course by the artisans passing through
the successive grades of apprentice, journeyman, and master. As an
apprentice he was bound to a master for a number of years, living in
his house and learning the trade in his shop. There was usually a
signed contract entered into between the master and the parents of
the apprentice, by which the former agreed to provide all necessary
clothing, food, and lodging, and teach to the apprentice all he
himself knew about his craft. The latter, on the other hand, was bound
to keep secret his master's affairs, to obey all his commandments, and
to behave himself properly in all things. After the expiration of the
time agreed upon for his apprenticeship, which varied much in
individual cases, but was apt to be about seven years, he became free
of the trade as a journeyman, a full workman. The word "journeyman"
may refer to the engagement being by the day, from the French word
_journee_, or to the habit of making journeys from town to town in
search of work, or it may be derived from some other origin. As a
journeyman he served for wages in the employ of a master. In many
cases he saved enough money for the small requirements of setting up
an independent shop. Then as full master artisan or tradesman he might
take part in all the meetings and general administration of the
organized body of his craft, might hold office, and would himself
probably have one or more journeymen in his employ and apprentices
under his guardianship. As almost all industries were carried on in