62 History of the Company. 



open to them. The repeated employment of the 

 word ''fellowship " in the early minutes, under cir- 

 cumstances where, In modern times, the word Com- 

 pany Is usual, furnishes us with a key to the whole 

 principle which, as It were, underlay and pervaded 

 the corporate fabric — the principle of mutual pro- 

 tection and support. But this bond was never, 

 for one moment, allowed to Interfere with the 

 punishment of any member of the guild for an 

 offence committed In trade, when the punishment 

 would, under similar circumstances and for a similar 

 offence, be visited upon those not free of the guild. 

 Indeed, It happens singularly and curiously enough, 

 that the heaviest punishments recorded in the Com- 

 pany's books are those imposed upon members of 

 the Company. 



On certain occasions in the year, the Company 

 In their several ranks, Wardens and Assistants, 

 cloathing and yeomanry, dined together, and the 

 loving cup — still a familiar institution in the 

 entertainments of to-day — Is a vestige of the 

 earliest and remotest of those fraternal gatherings, 

 although the precise antiquity of the custom Is 

 unknown. A common " house " fund was raised 

 by contributions, quarterage, and fines, supple- 

 mented by occasional legacies and bequests. 

 From this fund doles were distributed by the 

 Wardens at the Hall door, after every assembly 

 of the Company, and the poor were sustained, In 

 old age and decay, by quarterly allowances or 

 pensions. When a member died, his remains 

 received a last tribute of respect by the attend- 



