within the memory of our fathers, miners have divided a silver mine, and
similarly the tunnel at Schneeberg, first of all into one hundred and twentyeight shares, of which one hundred and twenty-six are the property of
private owners in the mines or tunnels, one belongs to the State and one
to the Church ; while in Joachimsthal only one hundred and twenty-two
shares of the mines or tunnels are the property of private owners, four
are proprietary shares, and the State and Church each have one in the
same way. To these there has lately been added in some places one share
for the most needy of the population, which makes one hundred and twentynine shares. It is only the private owners of mines who pay contributions.
A proprietary holder, though he holds as many as four shares such as I have
described, does not pay contributions, but gratuitiously supplies the owners
of the mines with sufficient wood from his forests for timbering, machinery,
buildings, and smelting ; nor do those belonging to the State, Church, and
the poor pay contributions, but the proceeds are used to build or repair
public works and sacred buildings, and to support the most needy with the
profits which they draw from the mines. Furthermore, in our State, the
one hundred and twenty-eighth share has begun to be divided into two,
four, or eight parts, or even into three, six, twelve, or smaller parts. This
is done when one mine is created out of two, for then the owner who formerly
possessed one-half becomes owner of one-fourth ; he who possessed onefourth, of one-eighth ; he who possessed one-third, of one-sixth ; he who
possessed one-sixth, of one-twelfth. Since our countrymen call a mine a
symposium, that is, a drinking bout, we are accustomed to call the money which
the owners subscribe a symbolum, or a contribution10. For, just as those who
go to a banquet (symposium) give contributions (symbola), so those who purpose
making large profits from mining are accustomed to contribute toward the
expenditure. However, the manager of the mine assesses the contributions
of the owners annually, or for the most part quarterly, and as often he
renders an account of receipts and expenses. At Freiberg in Meissen the
old practice was for the manager to exact a contribution from the owners
every week, and every week to distribute among them the profits of the
mines, but this practice during almost the last fifteen years has been so far
changed that contribution and distribution are made four11 times each
year. Large or small contributions are imposed according to the number
of workmen which the mine or tunnel requires ; as a result, those who
possess many shares provide many contributions. Four times a year the
owners contribute to the cost, and four times during the year the profits of
the mines are distributed among them ; these are sometimes large, sometimes small, according as there is more or less gold or silver or other metal
dug out. Indeed, from the St. George mine in Schneeberg the miners extracted
so much silver in a quarter of a year that silver cakes, which were worth
10A symposium is a banquet, and a symbola is a contribution of money to a banquet.
This sentence is probably a play on the old German Zeche, mine, this being also a term for
a drinking bout.
uIn the Latin text this is " three "—obviously an error.
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