English Gilds.

the officers of the Gild were also bound under penalties to use their best skill to make peace . Of some of these early documents , which were written upon paper , Mr . Toulmin Smith made the following remarks : — " The introduction of

specimens ot linen paper into England , is known to have happened in 1342 , possibly earlier . Some letters from abroad during that early time are Avritten on linen paper ; and there is a register book which belonged to the Black Prince , which is

of linen paper . But the few instances thus known , are considered to have been the importation from abroad of a special rarity , which only came , and that not often , into the hands of tbe wealthy . The manufacture of paper in England has been

supposed to go no further back than Elizabeth's time ; but earlier entries have proved that there Avas at least one paper mill in England as early as Henry VII . Neither the official use nor the manufacture of paper , so early as 1388 , has hitherto

been suspected . I have now proved the former to be a certain fact , and the latter becomes a probable one . . . . [ After describing the writs to the sheriffs and the instructions therein]—I find several of these instructions still

existing , written upon paper ; and I find that , in several cases , where the answer of the sheriff Avas on a separate sheet , the latter is also paper , though of a different quality , sometimes , from that on Avhich the instructions received by him Avere

written . None of the ways in which the existence of paper can be accounted for , as before said , in previously known instances of the use of linen paper , can explain the use of paper in this case , It becomes proved that linen paper was used in

public offices in London , aud also used by some of the country gentlemen , who then Avere sheriffs of distant shires , at the end of the fourteenth century . It is difficult to believe that it can have been thus used unless it Avere made in England .

. . Paper of later times loses its sizing after some century or two , and becomes soft and rotten . But this paper , after nearly 500 years of very bad treatment , which has caused the decay of many parts , even of the vellum documents among which

it is found , remains as firm , tough , and sound , as the best specimens of vellum that remain uninjured among it . No such paper is now made . "

Dr . Brentano ' s essay is divided into five parts , treating of the following subjects : —• i . The origin of gilds . II . Keligious and social gilds .

TII . The town gilds and gild merchants . iv . The craft gilds . v . The origin of trades unions . As to the origin of gilds , he says , the oldest reliable and detailed accounts of gilds come from

England . They consist of three gild statutes , all of which were drawn up in the beginning of the eleventh century , and of one there is no doubt of the accuracy of the date . It was founded at Abbotsbury , in honour of God and St . Peter , and

was richly endowed by Orcy , a friend of Canute the Great . Its object was the support and nursing of the gild-brothers , the burial of the dead , and the performance of religious services , and praying for their souls ., The association met every year

on its Saint ' s day , Avhen there was a common meal , and alms Avere given to the poor , for which purpose the gild brothers were compelled to contribute bread , " well boulted and thoroughly baked . " The Exeter Gild was one of the same character ,

but worship and prayer stand out . more promi * nently as the object of the brotherhood . Three times a year the brethren of this gild assembled

to " worship for the ' well-being of their living and dead fellow-members , and when a brother died every member Avas requested to perform special devotions for the soul of the departed . The Gild of Cambridge differed greatly from the

other two mentioned . At the outset the member had to take an oath on the relics of their patron saint , swearing faithful brotherhood to each other in both religions and secular matters . The statutes provided also for the poorer brethren worship and

feasts , but , apparently , the most important objects of this gild were to protect its members against criminals , and against the consequences of their own wrong doing , on the principle that , " if one

misdo let all bear it . ' If a gild brother required help , the inferior officer living nearest should hasten to his aid , punishment being provided in case of neglect . If a brother was robbed , the whole of the gild were bound to assist him in

obtaining compensation from the lawbreaker . If a member killed a man without justifiable motive , and merely for malice , he had to bear the consequence ; but if provoked by a quarrel , or under an obligation to execute vengeance , every gild

brother Avas bound to help him to make atonement . If one gild brother killed another , besides reconciling the kinsmen of the murdered man , he had to pay to the gild eight pounds , failing Avhich he Avas shut out of the society , and the members