History of the Company. 6r 



the term of apprenticeship, protected the ap- 

 prentice from the tyranny of the master, and 

 supported the master in exacting due obedience 

 from the apprentice. They settled the differences 

 of wages and other questions between journey- 

 men and the Saddlers who employed them ; de- 

 cided the eligibility or otherwise of a journeyman 

 to set up in trade for himself, and examined his 

 wares from time to time to see that they were 

 honestly wrought. These prerogatives, however, 

 were only in conformity with existing statutes of 

 the realm, in the framing of which, when they 

 related to the trades carried on in the capital, the 

 City took an active part, either by petitioning the 

 Crown and Parliament, or by other methods 

 of representation ; but the powers vested in 

 the City were commonly extended to the other 

 cities and corporate boroughs of the country, 

 many of which had their own separate craft 

 guilds, with similar powers of trade supervision, 

 search, &c., as we gather from the Charter granted 

 to the Saddlers' Company by Edward 1 11.^ 



The insiofht afforded into the internal condition 

 of the Company, its corporate customs, and the 

 relationship existing between its members, is no 

 less interesting. The Wardens, with eight or 

 more of the Assistants, constituted an authority in 

 all cases of trade as well as internal disputes, and 

 against their dicta there was no appeal ; at least, 

 few or none cared to appeal if the privilege were 



1 See p. 37 et seq. 



F 2 



