The War.—Assistance To The Sick And Wounded.

make his pain as light as possible by whatever comforts can alleviate it—to nurse him—communicate with his friends—and cure him , if possible , is the aim of the Society ' s operations . ' ' All the nations of Europe—and America—had Societies of this nature organised before the outbreak

of this war , and were ready to give help at once . "If Great Britain should be dragged into war , the first aim of this Society would be to succour wounded British , then its wounded allies and enemies . At all events , it is vitally important to have a society established , an organisation completed , and depots of

stores collected against such contingency . * ' Aid can be given best in this way : —Public meetings should be held , and Committees formed in all provincial towns—funds should be collecteddepots of store ? formed . The former might be at once forwarded to the Central Committee in London ; the latter retained and forwarded as required . " Even should war cease , there will , for six months

at least , be hospitals full of wounded ; and eventually , such Committees and depots would form a most valuable national organisation , in case , first of future war , and secondly , in all great accidents . " The Central Committee hope and believe that England will show her charity now—and that having once organised this Society—she will never in future

be found unprepared . "The Prince of Wales is our President—the Secretary of State for War is on our Committee—The Queen and the Field-Marshal Commanding-in-Chief are among our subscribers—the Government has given us an Office and Store . Field-Marshals , Peers ,

Members of the House of Commons , Officers of the Army and Navy , Medical men , Clergymen , of every shade of opinion and all professions , we are working hard in the one cause of relief of the miseries of war , and ladies of all ranks are giving their persoual services to collect , prepare , and issue materiel under the direction of the Central Committee . "

English Gilds.*

ENGLISH GILDS . *

( Continued from page 143 . ) We now come to the third part of Dr . Brentano ' s interesting introduction , which refers to the Gild Merchants , which he describes as sworn fraternities for the protection of right and the

preservation of liberty , which was in these days necessary in the towns for the protection of property and trade , against the violence of nei ghbouring nobles , the arbitrary aggressions of the bishops or burgraves , or the bold onsets of

robbers . In some instances , where new trades were established by settlements of workmen or traders from foreign countries , the combinations were rendered necessary to enable them to overcome

the prejudice of the native inhabitants , then in a state of semi-barbarism . The insecurity of the towns themselves also moved the small freemen thereof to band themselves into the g ilds . The members of this class

were mostly free landed proprietors , the possession of town land being the distinguishing mark of the earl y burghers , for to this possession alone was full citizenshi p attached in the first movements of civic life . Naturally the whole body of full

citizens united itself everywhere into one g ild , convivum conjuratum , and the g ild law became the law of the town . Among the earliest of these g ilds ( the history of which extends back to Anglo-Saxon times ) are

the g ilds of Dover , of the Thanes at Canterbury , the Gild Merchant of London and York , the great Gild of St . John at Beverly , the Gild of the Blessed Mary at Chesterfield . The old usages of Winchester contain intimations of a former

relationship between the gild of merchants and the body of the citizens . One document contains grants of liberties , and of a gild to the townsmen of Beverley , similar to the grant of civic constitutions to several German towns . By this

document , Thurston , Archbishop of York , grants to the townsmen of Beverley , a g ild , and " all liberties , with the same laws that the men of York have in their city . " King Henry I ., as well as Thurstan ' s successors , confirmed this Beverley

grant ; and there is even a document stating its confirmation by Pope Lucius III . From this kind of gild sprang , in England , the method of recognising the cifeens as an independent body , by confirming their gild . Iu the eleventh and twelfth centuries , especiall y

in the north of 1 ranee , appear unions of the free towns , in order to protect themselves against the oppressions of the powerful , and the better to defend their rights . In 1070 , the citizens of Mans established a sworn confederacy , in order to

oppose the oppressions of Godfrey of Mayenne . The people of Cambrai did the same against their bishop in 1076 , during his absence ; and as he , on his return , refused to recognise their confederacy , they shut the gates of the town against him . The

numerous grants of communal rights to French towns from the eleventh to the thirteenth century , are nothing but the recognition by the king of such Frith-gilds as had been previously in existence for a longer or shorter period . In 1188 , Count Phili p of Flanders confirmed to