"That three stated meetings shall be held every year. 1st, on Festival of St. Michael the Archangel; 2nd, on Feast of St. Mary, next following winter solstice; and 3rd, on Feast of All Saints', which is celebrated after Easter. "That at every meeting every member shall contribute two sextaria of barley meal, and every knight, one, together with his quota of honey. "That at each meeting a priest shall sing two masses; one for living, the other for the dead. Every lay brother shall sing two psalms: one for living, and other for departed members. Everyone shall moreover in his turn procure six masses and six psalms, to be sung at his own proper expense. "That when any member is about to go abroad, each of his fellow members shall contribute 5d.: and if any member's house shall have been burned, one penny." Fines were inflicted for non-attendance, for abusive conduct, and "finally we beseech every member, for God's sake, to observe these things which are ordained in this society, in everything, as we have ordained them, and may God help us to observe them." Mr. Toulmin Smith writes thus concerning these old Saxon guilds:--"The early English guild was an institution of local self-help, which, before Poor-laws were invented, took the place, in old times, of the modern friendly societies, but with a higher aim; while it joined all classes together in a care for the needy, and for objects of common welfare, it did not neglect the form and practice of religion, justice, and morality." One of the objects of the London guild (tenth century) was the recovery of stolen stock and slaves, and if these could not be recovered the brethren subscribed to make up the loss to the owner. A horse was valued at 1/2 pound, a cow at 20d., a hog at 10d., a sheep at 1s., a slave at 1/2 pound. If the slave _has stolen himself_ he shall be stoned, and every brother shall subscribe 1d. or 1/2d. to make good the loss. Whether there was ever a Danish guild in Reading it is impossible to determine. There was a noted one at Abbotsbury (Dorset), founded by Orcy, a friend of King Canute, 1030 A.D. The guild ordinance is quoted in Kemble's "Saxons in England," p. 511. The brethren were required to contribute wax, bread, wheat, and wood. The wax was for the maintainance of lights in the Minster. Members were required to contribute to the comforts of the dying, and to attend the burial and pray for the souls of departed members. We have a picture of later Saxon Reading recorded in the pages of Doomsday Book. It contained only thirty homesteads, with two better class of houses, two mills, and two fisheries. The Danes had attacked it a second time in 1006, and it had not recovered from that disaster; so in such a small community, although a guild at this period existed, it must have been a very small company indeed.