English Gilds. *

of the gild . The account of the gild of the smiths at Chesterfield is the only one in which there are no contributions mentioned ; it had its OAVU property , from which all its expenses were to be defrayed ; it had , however , to pay with bankruptcy

for this deviation from gild principles . The organisation of the religious ( or social ) gilds was the same as that of all g ilds up to the time of our modern trade unions : a meeting , and officers elected iu it , with , fines for not accepting office

when chosen to it . Often the members had , on their entrance , to declare by oath that they would fulfil their obligatious . Persons of ill repute were not to be admitted ; and members Avere to be excluded for misconduct . Moreover , the same

rules are to be found with regard to proper behaviour and decent dress at the gild meetings , as recur in all kinds of gilds to our day . Disputes among members Avere to be decided by the gild . The disclosing of the affairs of the gild Avas to be

severely punished . In those places in Avhich the gild had no special hall , its meetings Avere often held in the town-hall . The fraternities must

accordingly have enjoyed high consideration . The Reformation shook the whole system of gilds to its foundation ; and this Avas especially the case Avith the religious gilds of the laity , and the Kalenders . "In England , " says Madox , "these

religious gilds have been judged to be founded in superstition ; " and it was the same in ali countries in which the Reformation gained ground . The g ilds Avere therefore abolished iu all Protestant countries ; but not on the Continent as in

England , in favour of the private purse of the king aud his courtiers ; on the -contrary , Ave see in Northern Germany and in Denmark , the property and income of these gilds delivered everywhere .

according to the intention of the founders , to the common treasure for the poor , to poor-houses , hospitals , and schools . It is very interesting to see that the regular conventions of priests are found in Denmark even in the sixteenth century ,

after the introduction of the Reformation . They were still called by the same name , " Gilds of the Kalenders , " though they Avere held no more every month , but only once ( or several times ) a year . The synod at Rothschild ordered , that they should

also take place in those provostships in which they had not existed till then , that the ministers might remain united in doctrine and ceremony . Nobody was , however , to be burdened Avith the preparation of a meal ; and no stranger to the place , and

no foreigner , was to be admitted a member of the gild . The conclusion of another synod says : " When a priest goes to the meeting , he shall not be armed . During the dinner they shall abstain from scandalous talk , drunkenness , and unseemly

disputes ; four dishes aud no more are to be served ; and toAvards evening everybody is to go home . " A former synod , of the year 1562 , had already forbidden the abuse of prolonging these conventions for two or three days . Pontopiddan describes

these conventions at they took place in the age after the Reformation , as follows : — " The priests , together Avith their wives , heard a sermon in the church of the brother Avhose turn it Avas ; they then proceeded round the altar , deposited there an offering on behalf of the poor scholars of the

next town ; the conclusions and proceedings of the foregoing provincial synod were then recited , and their other affairs talked over and put in order . After this they , together with their whole families , Avent to the parsonage , where they indulged a little

at dinner 'in bona charitate , ' sang certain songs at meals , and made themselves merry in other wise ; but sometimes quarrelled also scandalously , and made a great uproar . " The resemblance of the synodal precepts mentioned above on this page

to those Avhich Hincmar of Rheims gave eai'lier in the ninth century to the presbyteris , c [ iii per calendar conveniunt is striking . It shows clearly that after so many centuries these meetings wez-e still held in the same Avay , and that the same abuses had to be opposed .

When the zeal against everything connected with Catholicism , inflamed by the Reformation , had cooled down a little , the old associates felt painfully the Avantof their former convivial gatherings . Gilds Avere therefore re-established for social

purposes , and from this probably originated our clubs and casinos of to day . Of the essential nature of the old gilds there is , however , no other trace to to be found in these modern representatives . The great analogy between the modern friendly

societies and the old religious or social gilds , has been already pointed out by Sir Frederick Eden . He also pronounces the opinion , that " notwithstanding the unjustifiable confiscation of the property of the gilds under Henry VIII . and Edward

VI ., there is every reason to suppose that private associations , on a more contracted scale than the ancient gilds , continued to exist in various parts of England , " and "that it is extremely probable , that many of these societies [ i . e . the gilds ] , even