Seite 328 von 2651

But a young man would practice with much more diligence and

attention, if from the beginning he wrought as a journeyman,

being paid in proportion to the little work which he could

execute, and paying in his turn for the materials which he might

sometimes spoil through awkwardness and inexperience. His

education would generally in this way be more effectual, and

always less tedious and expensive. The master, indeed, would be a

loser. He would lose all the wages of the apprentice, which he

now saves, for seven years together. In the end, perhaps, the

apprentice himself would be a loser. In a trade so easily learnt

he would have more competitors, and his wages, when he came to be

a complete workman, would be much less than at present. The same

increase of competition would reduce the profits of the masters,

as well as the wages of workmen. The trades, the crafts, the

mysteries, would all be losers.