Because of its close association with literature, the craft of printing has generally attracted a more intellectual type of craftsman and enjoyed a prestige greater than most others. Over the centuries, master printers have jealously enforced the standards of their predecessors, insisting today, as in the eighteenth century, on a long apprenticeship for learners. Upon completion of the stipulated learning period and achievement of the required proficiency, the apprentice then, as now, became a journeyman. A mature and experienced worker at this stage, he was qualified to take his leave of his master, if he desired, and to practice his craft where he wished. When such a printer engaged in work for himself and employed others, he became a master printer. The apprentice system was in some respects a great boon to eighteenth-century craftsmen, for it provided cheap labor in return only for training and the necessities of life. Each master took into his establishment a number of youngsters, hoping that some might prove of “bright genius and good disposition.” To these he obligated himself to provide food, shelter, and in most cases, clothing. The apprentice thereupon became a member of the printer’s household, performing any chores assigned to him in the home, shop, or printing office. But although apprentice labor was cheap, it was unskilled and often inept. Apprenticeships were frequently broken off, and only the relatively few youths who were suited for the work and desirous of learning the “art and mystery” of the craft kept at it until accepted as journeymen at the age of twenty-one. Many accounts have come down to us of the abuses as well as the uses of the apprentice system. Runaways were frequent, as attested by advertisements such as the one William Parks ran in the _Virginia Gazette_ in 1745 for the return of a “smooth-tongued” apprentice “who makes Locks, and is dexterous at picking them.” Sometimes mere children were apprenticed by poorer families who were unable to support them. Isaiah Thomas, a New England printer, was indentured at the age of six. In return for his training and keep, he bound himself to avoid drunkenness and carnal pursuits and to serve his master until he became twenty-one. However, the majority of apprentices were indentured at fourteen, to serve until they reached man’s estate. The apprentice system largely supplied the printer’s need for unskilled labor, but he could supplement it with slaves or with indentured servants. The latter were usually young Englishmen of the lower classes who had emigrated to America and who had bound themselves to a term of labor in return for their voyage. Unlike apprentices, however, they were not required to be taught to print.