of free-born citizens.

Even among the ancient Germans, who came with the great migration,
manual labour was not considered the most honourable occupation of the
warrior; the poor alone used to cultivate the fields or to forge
weapons at the smithy; long did the feeling remain, that there was less
honour in earning money than in taking the property of others, in the
shape of imposts or booty. Under such a condition of insecurity and
violence did the cities arise. They were surrounded by strong walls,
and shut out from the country, as once were the cities of old Latium;
they were the refuge of oppressed country people, not only from the
incursions of enemies, but also from the numerous small tyrants of the
open country. For centuries they were governed by privileged free-born
citizens, merchants, and speculators, similar to the Roman Empire; but
under the patricians, the guilds were strengthened in the course of
long and often bloody struggles within the walls; they acquired a share
in the government, with essentially equal rights and equal duties. As a
free man capable of bearing arms, the German citizen found that he
could obtain riches, consideration, and affluence by means of his
handicraft and his art. At the end of the middle ages, it became clear
that the intellectual life of Germany had taken root in the cities.

Undoubtedly handicraft was under different conditions to what it is
now. Whilst the common produce of individual mechanical labour was
accurately defined in respect to material, form, and price, and the
creative energy of individuals was entirely restrained by the
traditions of their city and guild, a creative tendency appeared in all
that required more delicate handling. The painter still rubbed his
colours himself, and melted the varnish, but he also carved in wood,
and engraved copper-plates. Albert Duerer still sold in the market
stalls picture sheets with woodcuts, for which perhaps he himself made
the letter-press, Whilst the arrangements of houses and churches
frequently remained fixed, even in respect to size, in all fundamental
points, the countless and often too florid details of the arabesques in
the stonework showed the inward satisfaction with which the builder,
when permitted the free exercise of his own fancy, followed the impulse
to give expression to his own mind. The goldsmith was also designer and
modeller; he took pleasure in making every article of value a work of
art, into which h