In France, the trading associations pre vailed to a great extent under the names of " Corps de Marchands" and " Comma nautes.' Many of them had been esta blished b' the crown solely for the pur pose of raising revenue by the ifrant of exclusive privileges and monopolies. At the latter end of the seventeenth century there were in Paris six "Corps de Mar chands," and one hundred and twenty-nine " Communaut6s," or companies of trades men, each fraternity having its own rules and laws. Among these bodies the du ration of apprenticeship varied from three to eight or ten years. It was an invaria ble rule in the " Corps de Marchands," which was generally followed in the "Communautds," that no master should have more than one apprentice at a time. There was also a regulation that no one should exercise his trade as a master until, in addition to his apprenticeship, he had served a certain number of years as a journeyman. During the latter term he was called the " compagmon" of his master, and the term itself was called his "compagnonage." He had also, before being admitted to practise his trade as master, to deliver to the " jurande," or wardens of the company, a specimen of his proficiency in his art, called his "chef d'cerivre." He was then said " as pirer k la =Arise." The sons of mer chants living in their father's house till seventeen years of age, and following his trade, were reputed to have served their apprenticeship, and became entitled to the privileges incidental to it without being actually bound. These companies or as sociations were abolished at the Revolu tion, when a perfect freedom of industry was recognised by law, and this, with a few exceptions, has continued to the present day. But though the contract of apprenticeship, so far as a fixed period goes, has ceased in France to be impera tive upon the artisan, it has not fallen into disuse ; a law of 22 Germinal, An XI. (12th April, 1803), prescribes the rights and duties both of master and apprentice. It does not, however, lay down any parti cular form, and leaves the time and other conditions of the contract to be determined by the parties.
In Germany, though we find the same institution, it varies not only in the name, but has some other remarkable peculiari ties. The companies, there called gilden, sibyls, or inaungen, appear, both on ac count of moral and physical defects, to have refused admission to applicants for freedom, at the discretion of the elders or masters. They seem to have occasionally admitted workmen who had not served a regular apprenticeship into the lower class of members of a trade ; but only those were allowed to become masters wbo had gone through the regular stages of instruction. The course, which con tinues to the present day, is as follows : The apprentice, after having served the term prescribed by his indenture (auf dings-brief), is admitted into the company as a companion (gesell), which corre sponds in many respects to the French compagnon. Having passed through the years of his apprenticeship, called lehr jahre, satisfactorily, he becomes entitled to receive from the masters and companions of the guild a certificate, or general letter of recommendation (Itundschaft), which testifies that he has duly served his ap prenticeship, and has been admitted a member of the company, and commends him to the good offices of the societies of the same craft, wherever he may apply for them. With this certificate the young artisan sets out on his travels, which often occupy several years, called wandel-jahre, supporting himself by working as a journeyman in the various towns in which he temporarily establishes himself, and availing himself of his kundschaft to procure admission into the fellowship an privileges of his brother-workmen of the same craft. On his return home, he is entitled, upon producing certificates of his good conduct during his wandel-jahre, to become a master. In Germany, the periods of servitude have varied in dif ferent states and at different periods ; in general, the term is seven years ; but in some instances an apprenticeship of five or three years is sufficient.
Neither in Ireland nor in Scotland have the laws relating to associated trades or apprentices been very rigorously enforced. In Ireland the same system of guilds and companies certainly existed; but, as it was the policy of the English government to encourage settlers there, little attention was paid to their exclusive privileges: and in 1672 the lord-lieutenant and council, under authority of an Act of Parliament, issued a set of rules and re gulations for all the walled towns in Ire land, by which any foreigner was allowed to become free of the guilds and frater nities of tradesmen on payment of a fine of 20s. 4 statute containing very simi lar enactments was passed in 19 George III. The term of apprenticeship, also, in Ireland, was of a moderate length, five years being required by 2 Anne, c. 4, for the linen manufacture, which, by 10 George L c. 2, was reduced to four years. It is asserted by Adam Smith, that there is no country in Europe in which corpo ration laws have been so little oppressive as in Scotland. Three years are there a common term of apprenticeship even in the nicer trades, but there is no general law on the subject, the custom being dif ferent in different communities.
It is, perhaps, impossible to ascertain precisely at what time apprenticeships first came into general use in England.
But that the institution is one of very old date is certain, being probably contempo raneous with the formation of the guilds or companies of tradesmen. It appears from Herbert's History of the Twelve Livery Companies of London,' that in 1335, when the warder's accounts of the Goldsmiths' Company begin, there were fourteen apprentices bound to members of the company. In the statutes of the realm, however, there is no reference to such an institution for about 200 years after the guilds are known to have existed, appren tices being first incidentally noticed in an act (12 Rich. II. c. 3) passed in 1388. In (7 Henry IV. c. 17) a statute was passed which enacted that no one shall bind his son or daughter apprentice unless he have land or rent to the value of 20s. by the year ; the cause of which provision is stated to be the scarcity of labourers in husbandry, in consequence of the custom of binding children ap prentices to trades. In the act (8 Henry VI. c. 11) which repealed this statute in favour of the city of London, the putting and taking of apprentices are stated to have been at that time a custom of London time out of mind. The same statute was repealed (by 11 Henry VII. c. 11) in favour of the citizens of Norwich, and (by 12 Henry VII. c. 1) in favour of the worsted-makers of Norfolk ; and in the former act we find the first mention of any particular term of servitude, the custom of the worsted shearers of Norwich being confirmed by it, which required an apprenticeship of seven years. Except in London, it does not appear that at an early period there was in England any uniform practice in this respect. but that the duration of the apprenticeship was a matter for agree ment between the parties to the contract. In Madox's Formulare Anglican= there is an indenture of apprenticeship dated in the reign of Henry IV., which is nearly in the same form as the modern instru ment; and in that case the binding is to a carpenter for six years. It is, however, probable that before the statute of 5 Elia. c. 4, the term of apprenticeship was seldom less than seven years. In London, the period of seven years at the least was expressly prescribed by the custom as the shortest term ; and Sir Thomas Smith, in his Commonwealth of England, written about the time of the passing of the statute of Elizabeth, says, in reference to the previous 'practice, that the apprentice " serveth, some for seven or eight years, some nine or ten years, as the master and the friends of the young man shall think meet, or can agree together." The statute of 5 & 6 Edw. VI. c. 8, which enacts that no person shall weave broad woollen-cloth, unless he has served a seven years' apprenticeship, may be adduced as a further proof that this term was fast becoming the customary one. By 5 Elizabeth, c. 4, it was de clared that no person should " set up, occupy, use, or exercise any craft, mys tery, or occupation, then used or occupied within the realm of England or Wales, except he should have been brought up therein seven years at the least as an apprentice." But neither by that statute nor by the customs of London and Nor wich, which sere excepted by the act, was a longer term of apprenticeship than seven years forbidden. The following are some of the chief provisions of the statute of Elizabeth :—Householders who have at least half a ploughland in tillage may take any one as an apprentice above the age of ten and under eighteen, until the age of twenty-one or twenty-four as the parties may agree. Householders of the age of twenty-four in cities may take apprentices in trades for seven years, wbo must be sons of freemen not being la bourers nor engaged in husbandry. Mer chants in any city or town corporate trafficking in foreign parts, mercers, dra pers, goldsmiths, ironmongers, embroid erers, or clothiers, are not to take any apprentices, except their own sons, unless their parents have 40s. freehold a year. Persons residing in market-towns, if of the age of twenty-four, may take two appren tices, who must be children of arbficers, but merchants in market-towns are not to take any apprentices other than children whose parents have 3/. a year freehold. In the following trades the children of persons who had no land might be taken as apprentices smiths, wheelwrights, ploughwrights, millwrights, carpenters, rough masons, plasterers, sawyers, lime burners, brick-makers, bricklayers, tilers, slaters, healyers, tile-makers, linen weavers, turners, coopers, millers, earth en-potters, woollen-weavers, weaving housewife's or of household cloth only and none other, cloth-pillers, otherwise called tuckers or walkers, burners of ooze and woad ashes, thatchers, and shinglers. Woollen cloth-weavers, ex cept in cities, towns corporate, or market towns, are not to take as apprentices children whose parents were not possessed of 3/. a year freehold, but they might take their own sons as apprentices: the woollen-weavers of Cumberland, West moreland, Lancashire, and Wales were , exempted from the operation of this clause. There was a clause in the act which gave to one justice the power of imprisoning persons (minors) who re fused to become apprentices. The jus tices were empowered to settle disputes between masters and apprentices, and could cancel the indentures. This statute of Elizabeth was repealed in 1814 by 54 Geo. III. c. 96.