This Indenture witnesseth, That__R. B.__ Son of__J. B.__, Citizen of London, doth put himself (that is, by his own free and voluntary choice) apprentice to __A. A.__ Citizen and ____ of London, to learn his Art, and with him after the manner of an Apprentice to serve (that is, to live with him in the capacity of a learner and servant, doing all such work as belongs to his trade, and as Apprentices by custom are obliged to do) from the date hereof, unto the full end and term of ____ years from thence next following to be fully complete and ended; that is, not at the beginning only, or for part of the time, but so long as his Indenture shall continue in force, which must be for seven years at least.

During which term the said Apprentice his said Master faithfully shall serve; that is, he shall be true and just to his Master in all his dealings, both in word and deed; he must not only keep his hands from picking and stealing, and his tongue from lying and slandering; he must not only abstain from doing him any manner of injury, by idleness, negligence, or carelessness; by deceiving, defaming, or any kind of evil speaking: but, he must learn and labour to do him true and real service.

Ye must be faithful in all things. 1 Tim. i.

In all your labours let no iniquity be found. Hosea xii. 8.

Ye shall not steal, neither deal falsely, neither lie one to another. Lev. xix. 11.

Speak every man truth to his neighbour. Eph. iv. 25.

All that do unrighteously are an abomination to the Lord thy God. Deut. xxv. 16.

He that uttereth a slander is a fool. Prov. x. 18.

The lip of truth shall be established for ever, but a lying tongue is but for a moment; for the mouth of them who speak lies shall be stopped. Chap. xii. 19.

To do justice and judgment is more acceptable to the Lord than sacrifice; (for) they who deal truly are his delight. Chap. xxi. 3, chap. xii. 22.

His secrets keep; that is, conceal the particular secrets of his art, trade, or science, without divulging or making any one privy to them to the detriment of his Master, whose interest may very much depend on a peculiar management and knowledge of his business. To behave thus, is to serve faithfully; and fidelity is the glory and perfection of a Servant, as his want of it is his greatest discredit and reproach.

Discover not a secret to another, lest he that heareth it putteth thee to shame, and the infamy turn not away. Prov. xxv. 9, 10.

His lawful commands every where gladly do; that is, he shall readily and cheerfully obey him in all things lawful, without murmuring, hesitation, or reluctance; for obedience from a Servant to his Master, is a duty established by all laws, human and divine; and is founded likewise in the very nature of things; it being impossible to preserve any superiority in the one over the other, unless the inferior submits himself to the direction of his superior in all such things as he has a right to command him to do; that is, all things lawful: he is indeed, properly speaking, no longer a Servant than while he obeys his Master’s commands; so that the covenanted obedience of an Apprentice is on all accounts indispensably necessary; and the more cheerfully he performs it, the more perfectly he fulfils his duty, and the greater will be the reward as well as pleasure of his obedience; for his Master will doubtless take all opportunities of encouraging him on account of his willingness; he will contrive to make his work as easy to him as he can; he will treat him with all the kindness, and shew him all the favour that is consistent with the relation between them; whereby his servitude will be rendered a kind of freedom; the necessary labours of it a delight; and the time of its duration short and pleasant: he will beside gain the advantage of being trusted and confided in by his Master, which must necessarily give him a quick and thorough insight into his trade, whereby he will become duly qualified for the power and dignity of a Master himself, and establish such a reputation and character as will gain him the esteem and friendship of all who know him; and can therefore have no other than a comfortable prospect of advancing his station and fortune in the world. The quite contrary of all which must be the lot of the disobedient, churlish, and murmuring Servant; who will, in all probability, end his days as a Master (if ever he arrives at that honour) in the same discontented, uneasy, and disregarded manner, in which he lived as a Servant; feared by very few, beloved by none.

Exhort servants to be obedient unto their own Masters, and to please them well in all things, not answering again. Titus ii. 9.

His servants ye are whom ye obey. Rom. vi. 16.

Servants, obey in all things your Masters, according to the flesh; not only to the good and gentle, but also the froward. Col. iii. 22.

And when ye be buffeted for well-doing, take it patiently; for this is thank-worthy and acceptable with God. 1 Pet. ii. 20.

With good-will doing service. Ephes. vi. 7.

Not with eye-service, as men-pleasers, but in singleness of heart, fearing God. Col. iii. 22.

If any would not work, neither should he eat. 2 Thes. iii. 10.

In all labour there is profit; and the thoughts of the diligent tend only to plenteousness. Prov. xiv. 23.

The hand of the diligent maketh rich.—An idle soul shall suffer hunger. Chap. x. 4.—Chap. xix. 15.

Seest thou a man diligent, he shall stand before kings, he shall not stand before mean men. A slothful man is compared to a filthy stone, and every one will hiss him out to his disgrace. Chap. xxii. 29. Eccl. xxii. 1.

They that plough iniquity, and sow wickedness, shall reap the same. Job iv. 8.

The Lord will make them contemptible and base, before all the people, according as they have not kept his ways. Malachi ii. 9.

He shall do no damage to his said Master, nor see it to be done of others, but that he to his power shall let (that is, prevent or hinder) or forthwith give warning to his said Master of the same. He shall not waste the goods of his said Master, or lend them unlawfully to any. It is not sufficient that the Apprentice does not wrong his Master himself, by cheating, pilfering, purloining, wasting, spoiling, lending, or giving away any of his goods; by sloth and idleness, by neglecting his business, and loitering away his time; it is not enough that he does his Master no kind of damage himself; but he must be watchful that he is not injured in any kind by his fellow-servants and others; and be sure to do what in him lies to prevent or discover it to his Master; for he cannot be indifferent or careless in such a case, or connive and conceal any thing of this kind, without breach of covenant, and incurring the guilt and shame that is due to unfaithfulness.

Have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them. Ephes. v. 11.

Beware of evil workers, and be not thou partaker with them.

Thou shalt not suffer sin in thy brother, but by any means reprove him. Phil. iii. 2.

When thou sawest a thief thou consentedst with him. Psalm l. 18.

He shall not commit fornication. This vice has been the bane of so many young men in all ages and places, that every one’s memory must furnish him with divers instances of its fatal effects; the Sessions papers are filled with numberless accounts of unhappy persons who are brought by it to public shame and infamous ends; and indeed nothing is so destructive to the morals and happiness of youth, as the having any kind of commerce with lewd and shameless women; for such conversation infallibly destroys the health, consumes the fortune, blasts the credit, and extinguishes that modesty which is the principal ornament and surest preservative of youth from the vices and dangers they are most exposed to.

Flee fornication: He that committeth fornication, sinneth against his own body. 1 Cor. vi. 18.

Keep thee from the evil woman, from the flattery of the tongue of the strange woman: lust not after her beauty in thy heart, neither let her take thee with her eye-lids; lest thou give thine honour to others: lest strangers be filled with thy wealth; and thou mourn at the last, when thy flesh and thy body are consumed. Prov. vi. 24, 25.—Prov. v. 10, 11.

Let not thy heart decline to her ways, for her house is the way to hell. Thou goest after her as an ox goeth to the slaughter, till a dart strike through thy liver; as a bird hasteth to the snare, and knoweth not that it is for his life. Prov. vii. 25, 27, 22, 23.

Neither fornicators nor adulterers shall inherit the kingdom of God. 1 Cor. vi. 9.

Whoremongers and adulterers God will judge. Heb. xiii. 4.

Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. Matt. v. 8.

Nor contract matrimony within the said term. Marriage is a very improper state for Apprentices, but is too often entered into rashly without consideration, or the consent of friends and relations; and therefore is very seldom advantageous, and generally unhappy. The necessary expense and charge which attends a growing family, must quite consume a small fortune, very much lessen a good one, and entail heavy debts and lasting misery on the generality of married Apprentices, who cannot hope to avoid a jail; and it is well if that is their worst misfortune. At best such a marriage is an act of great disobedience and contempt towards parents and friends, of injustice towards the Master, and must be attended with the loss of their esteem and friendship, if not with their heavy displeasure. It is a direct violation of this covenant, a forfeiture of their right to the freedom of London, and tends to unsettle and alienate the mind from business, and to disable the Apprentice from ever becoming a complete master of his trade.

He shall not play at cards, dice, tables, or any other unlawful game, whereby his said Master may have any loss. All sorts of gaming for money is prohibited by this covenant; it being a habit of the most pernicious consequence. Those who have an itch for gaming, very rarely have any relish for business; the dispositions and qualifications for the one, being quite inconsistent with the other. Modesty, caution, industry, frugality, and strict integrity, are indispensably necessary to the forming a good and successful tradesman; but no man ever made his fortune by play, without corrupting his morals and forfeiting his character; for the gamester must be bold and adventurous, extravagant and profuse, fraudulent, tricking, and deceitful, of scandalous life, and infamous reputation; and such will the unwary and thoughtless Apprentice soon become, who is addicted to this vice; who begins with it under pretence of amusement, but suffers the love of it to grow on him till it becomes habitual; and what assurance has he, that the loss of his own money, and the flattering hopes of better fortune, will not tempt him to steal and hazard what is his Master’s? What hopes can he have that he shall escape the rock on which so many have perished? The Apprentice therefore who would not expose himself to guilt, to shame, punishment, and ruin, must religiously observe this prohibition.

Wo onto him that buildeth his house by unrighteousness, and his chambers by wrong. Jer. xxii. 13.

Wo unto them that have made dishonest gain of their neighbours, by extortion, or by the iniquity of their traffic. Ezek. xxii. 12.

My soul come not thou into their secrets, unto their assemblies my honour be not thou united. Gen. xlix.

We have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty, therefore let us not walk in craftiness. (For) better is a little with righteousness, than great revenues without right. 2 Cor. iv.

Wealth got by vanity shall be diminished: but he that gathereth by labour shall increase. Prov. xiii. 11.

If sinners entice thee, consent thou not. Walk not then in the way with them; lest thou learn their ways, and get a snare to thy soul. Prov. i. 10, 15.—Chap. xxii.

With his own goods, or others, during the said term, without license of his said Master, he shall neither buy nor sell. The apprenticeship is a time of labour and improvement, not of gain; it is the season wherein youth are to acquire a thorough knowledge of trade, and to establish in themselves such habits as will enable them to carry it on hereafter with pleasure and profit. A liberty for the Apprentice to trade on his own account, would, in most instances, be rather a snare than an advantage to him; it would oftener increase his acquaintance and expenses than his fortune; it would furnish him with excuses for absenting himself from his Master’s house and business, under pretence of promoting his own; and lead him into company-keeping, and a large acquaintance, before he hath judgment to make a proper choice; and it is to be feared, would sometimes be the occasion of his being unfaithful, and create continual jealousies and misunderstandings between him and his Master. Upon all which accounts this prohibition is for their mutual advantage; and the breach of it on no account to be connived at by the Master, nor practised by the Apprentice.

If ye have not been faithful in that which is another man’s, who shall give you that which is your own?

He shall not haunt taverns or play-houses, nor absent himself from his said Master’s service day or night unlawfully. I have joined these three prohibitions together, because of the connexion they have; the Apprentice cannot commit the two first without being guilty of the last, which is a great act of injustice; for the Master has not a better title to his own money or goods than to the time of his Apprentice. He therefore must not upon any pretence whatsoever absent himself day or night from his Master’s house, without his consent. He must not, when the common business of the day is over, think himself at his own disposal, and take the liberty of going on his pleasure, without permission. Many things may occur which require his presence: business sometimes offers very unexpectedly; and the Apprentice should be always ready for his Master’s service. Add to this, that the house, the shop, and effects of his Master, are continually under his care, and the looking well after them a duty always incumbent on him; which such a one can never faithfully discharge who lists himself in clubs, or haunts taverns, or any other kind of tippling houses, or who frequents play-houses, and such like diversions. These habits are not only attended with a great waste of the Master’s time, but with an expense which few Apprentices can afford, and will probably lead him from wrong to robbery, when the Master’s money becomes as necessary to his pleasures as his time; for, he who scruples not to waste the one, will not be long before he makes free with the other. It is therefore the interest and happiness of youth, to be restrained from frequenting these places, where they can only associate themselves with the young and giddy, the raw and inexperienced, the loose and disorderly; for discreet and prudent persons will not encourage Apprentices in such unlawful haunts, by keeping them company. And what must be the fruits of such society? what, but noisy empty mirth; loose and licentious discourse, riot, intemperance, and disorder; of the same pernicious kind are the pleasures they receive from plays, interludes, and such like diversions. These, to youthful and unsettled judgments, are but vain and airy entertainments, which fill the head with romantic and unnatural ideas of life and the world, and tend only to alienate the mind from business, which is its proper, and ought to be its chief entertainment; and to expose youth to the danger of being corrupted by lewd and vicious persons of both sexes, who always crowd such places. Upon the whole, then, it is evident, the Apprentice cannot haunt taverns, that is, any kind of public tippling-houses, or frequent play-houses, nor absent himself day or night from his Master’s service, without breach of covenant, nor indeed without exposing himself to the loss of reputation (for such as his companions and pleasures are, such will his character be) and contracting vicious and expensive habits, which will probably bring him to want and misery, to shame and punishment.

He that is faithful in that which is least, is faithful also in much; and he that is unjust in the least, is unjust also in much. Luke vi. 10.

That which is altogether just shalt thou follow. Deut. xvi. 20.

Blessed are those servants, whom their Lord, when he cometh, shall find watching. Luke xii. 37.

Be ye therefore ready also. Luke xii. 40.

I wrote unto you not to accompany with fornicators. 1 Cor. v. 9, 11.

If a brother be a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolater, or a railer, or a drunkard, or an extortioner, with such a one eat not.

Be not among wine bibbers, amongst riotous eaters of flesh. Prov. xxiii. 20.

He that is a companion of riotous men, shameth his father. Prov. xxviii. 7.

Look not thou on the wine when it is red, when it giveth its colour in the cup, when it moveth itself aright; at the last it biteth as a serpent, and stingeth like an adder. Prov. xxiii. 31.

Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging. Prov. xx. 1.

Withdraw yourself from every brother that walketh disorderly. Thes. iii. 6.

He that followeth vain persons is void of understanding.

Thou shalt not follow a multitude to do evil. Exod. xxiii. 2.

Cease to hear instructions that causeth to err from the words of knowledge. Prov. xix. 27.

He that loveth pleasure shall be a poor man: he that loveth wine and oil shall not be rich. Prov. xxi. 17.

Who hath woe? who hath sorrow? who hath contention? who hath babbling? who hath wounds without a cause? who hath redness of eyes? they who tarry long at the wine! they who go to seek mixed wine: and men of strength to mingle strong drink: that rise up early in the morning, that they may follow strong drink.

It is better to hear the rebuke of the wise, than for a man to hear the song of fools. Prov. xxiii. 29.—Isaiah v. 22.

But in all things, as a faithful Apprentice, he shall behave himself towards his said Master, and all his, during the said term.

That is, he shall faithfully and diligently perform the covenants in this Indenture, and demean himself humbly, dutifully, and obligingly to his Master and Mistress, with civility and respect to their children, friends, relations, and customers, and all who belong to them.

And the said Master in consideration of ____ being the money given with the said Apprentice, his said Apprentice, in the same art and mystery which he useth, by the best means that he can, shall teach, or instruct, or cause to be taught and instructed, finding unto his said Apprentice, meat, drink, apparel, lodging, and all other necessaries, according to the custom of the City of London, during the said term.

The end and design of Apprenticeship, is for the training up of youth to the knowledge and practice of some art or business; whereby they may learn to get their own living, and become useful to the public; and for the promoting this good and laudable design, the Master here covenants to furnish the Apprentice with all necessaries during the term of his Indenture, and to take especial care of his instruction and improvement in the trade he follows. It is, therefore, the indispensable duty of every Master to use his best means, that is, to take all proper methods for performance of these covenants. He must endeavour to render his Apprentice skilful and industrious, by due information and constant employment: he must enforce the duties of diligence, frugality, and honesty, by his own example, by kind and gentle usage, and by instilling into his mind the necessity and usefulness of these and all other good and virtuous habits. He must restrain him from whatever interferes with his duty or obstructs his improvement, by advice, by exhortation, by reproof, and (if need be) by moderate and reasonable correction; and if all these prove ineffectual, he must apply to the magistrate, and call to his assistance the authority of the Chamberlain, who will judge indifferently between the Master and the Apprentice, and oblige both parties to perform the covenants of their Indentures.

Let as many servants as are under the yoke, count their own masters worthy of all honour. 1 Tim.

Let not the child behave proudly against the ancients, nor the base against the honourable. For by pride cometh contention. Isai. iii. 5.

Honour widows. 1 Tim. v. 3.

A soft answer turneth away wrath, and yielding pacifieth great offences; (but) grievous words stir up anger. Prov. xv. 1.—Eccl. x. 4.

Please them well in all things, not answering again.

Whereas thy servant worketh truly, treat him not evil. Eccl. vii. 20.

Let my soul love a good servant. Ver. 21.

Masters, give unto your servants that which is just and equal, forbearing threatening; knowing that ye have also a Master in Heaven: neither is there respect of persons with him. Gal. iv. 1.—Eph. vi. 9.

Despise not the cause of thy servants when they contend with thee. Did not He that made thee in the womb, make him: And did not one fashion us all in the womb? Job. xxxi. 13.—Ver. 15.

Be not hasty in thy spirit to be angry. Eccl. vii. 9.

Ye shall not rule over one another with rigour, for ye are brethren. Lev. xxv. 49.

Be thou an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in faith, in purity. 1 Tim. iv. 12.

Six days in the week shalt thou labour, and do all thy work.

Remember the Sabbath Day, to keep it holy. In it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, nor thy servant, &c.

Why is the house of God forsaken?

Unto his habitation shall ye seek, and thither shall ye come, ye and your households.

That ye may hear, and that they may learn, and fear the Lord their God, and observe to do all the words of his law.

According to the sentence of the law which they shall teach thee, and according to the judgment which they shall tell thee, thou shalt do: thou shalt not decline from the sentence which they shall shew thee, to the right hand or to the left. Deut. xxxi. 12.

And for the true performance of all and every the said covenants and agreements, either of the said parties bindeth himself unto the other by these presents. In witness whereof, the parties above named of these Indentures, interchangeably have put their hands and seals, the ____ of ____ in the ____ year of the Reign of our Sovereign, ____ of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, ____ Defender of the Faith, and in the year of our Lord, &c.