388 THE ADDRESSES, LECTURES, ETC., OF 



political freedom and advancement, upon which the throne of 

 Queen Victoria is at present safely placed ; but it left the Guilds a 

 less important part than that Avhich they took in other countries, 

 and especially in Germany. In Germany, the Guilds, which were 

 established in the llth century, endured throughout the changes 

 of centuries till the year 1869, when they were finally abolished. 

 I, when a boy at school, was living under the full vigour of the 

 old Guild system at the free city of Lubeck. There, in going 

 through the streets, you saw Carpenters' Arms, Tailors' Arms, 

 Goldsmiths' Arms and Blacksmiths' Arms. These were lodging 

 houses where every journeyman belonging to that trade or craft 

 had to stop if he came into the town. In commencing his career, 

 he had to be bound as an apprentice for three or four years, and 

 the master, on taking an apprentice, had to enter into an engage- 

 ment to teach him the art and mystery, which means the science 

 of his trade, and also look to his moral welfare in every way. 

 Before the young man could leave his state of apprenticeship he 

 had to pass a certain examination ; he had to produce his Gesellen- 

 sttick, and if that was found satisfactory, he was pronounced a 

 journeyman. He had then to travel for four years, from place to 

 place, not being allowed to remain for longer than four months 

 under any one master, but he had to go from city to city and thus 

 pick up knowledge in the best way that could have been devised 

 in those days. Then, after he had completed his time of travel, 

 on coming back to his native city, he could not settle as a master 

 to his trade until he had produced his Meister-siuck. These 

 master-pieces in the trade were frequently works of art in every 

 sense of the word. They were, in blacksmithy, for instance, the 

 most splendid pieces of armoury ; in every trade, and in clocks 

 'above all others, great skill was displayed in their production. 

 These were examined by the Guild Masters' Committee, and upon 

 approval were exposed at the Arms of the Trade for a certain time 

 after which the journeyman was pronounced a master ; he was 

 then allowed to marry, provided he had made choice of a 

 young woman of unimpeachable character. These rules would 

 hardly suit the taste of the present day, but still there was a 

 great deal of good in those old Guild practices. The result you 

 can see, for instance, on going into the old Trade Museum of 

 Nuremberg, where you find the skill of the blacksmith, the 



