92 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



untary association of neighbors for the same purposes of order and 

 self-defense." An isolated existence for a man, even a freeman, was 

 one of danger, especially when the feudal temper of the nobles in- 

 creased and the Danish incursions broke over England. The ties of 

 kindred had become weakened, and the frith guild took the place of 

 the family. A mutual oath bound the members together, and the 

 monthly guild feast became the substitute for the old gathering round 

 the family hearth. A member could call upon the guild in case of 

 violence or wrong; when charged with crime, the guild answered for 

 him, and when guilty, punished him ; when poor, it supported him ; and 

 when dead, buried him. When these guilds were located in towns 

 rather than in the country, they inevitably tended in time to combine, 

 and eventually the town passed from a collection of guilds into one 

 large guild, and we have the town guild. The word " town " is used 

 in contradistinction from the word " country," just as we say " town 

 and country," " going to town," and so on. The spirit of independ- 

 ence and freedom, kept alive in our town meetings here, and in our 

 local self-government, has come down to us through those old town 

 guilds and the boroughs of England. It is to the towns of England 

 and not to the country that we owe much of our liberty to-day. 



So these guilds in towns, by joining together and making a town 

 guild, became quite strong communities. They made demands upon 

 the crown itself, and took upon themselves the government of the 

 towns where they were located. Their members were the landowners 

 of the town, and the other people who came there to settle, no matter 

 how numerous, had no part in the government. From being demo- 

 cratic in the beginning, as the frith guilds were, the towns became 

 oligarchies. 



In the course of time the differences between town and country 

 became more marked. The town guilds began to have less and less 

 to, do with agriculture, although at first they were interested in it. 

 The wealth in the town is turned to trade and manufacture, such as 

 there was in those days. So, by the time of the Norman conquest, in 

 1 006, we hear little of town guilds, but in almost every case merchant 

 guilds. The town guild has become a merchant guild, although com- 

 posed of the same constituency. The commercial spirit has become 

 the ruling spirit of the town. 



As time went on and life and property became safer and trade 

 increased, the consequent accumulation of wealth in towns produced 

 important results in the character of these municipal institutions. 

 " In becoming a merchant guild the body of citizens who formed " the 

 government of " the town enlarged their powers of civic legislation by 

 applying them to the control of their internal trade." No longer 

 confining themselves to providing for public order or protection from 



