a title given to several officers and persons of authority and command; particularly to the chiefs of the orders of knighthood, &c.—Thus we say the grand master of Malta; of St Lazarus; of the Golden Fleece; of the Free Masons, &c.
Master (Magister), was a title frequent among the Romans: they had their master of the people, magister populi, who was the dictator. Master of the cavalry, magister equitum, who held the second post in an army after the dictator. Under the later emperors there were also masters of the infantry, magistri peditum. A master of the census, magister censuum, who had nothing of the charge of a censor, or subcensor, as the name seems to intimate; but was the same with the praefectus frumentarius.
Master of the Militia (magister militiae), was an officer in the lower empire, created, as it is said, by Diocletian, who had the inspection and government of all the forces, with power to punish, &c. somewhat like a constable of France. At first there were two of these officers instituted, the one for the infantry, and the other for the cavalry; but the two were united into one under Constantine. Afterwards, as their power was increased, so was their number also; and there was one appointed for the court, another for Thrace, another for the East, and another for Illyria. They were afterwards called comites, counts, and clarifimi. Their power was only a branch of that of the praefectus praetori, who by that means became a civil officer.
Master of Arms (magister armorum), was an officer or comptroller under the master of the militia.
Master of the Offices (magister officiorum), had the superintendence of all the officers of the court; he was also called magister officii palatini, simply magister; and Master. his post magisteria.—This officer was the same in the western empire with the europalates in the eastern.
MASTER at Arms, among us, is an officer appointed to teach the officers and crew of a ship of war the exercise of small arms; to confine and plant centinels over the prisoners, and superintend whatever relates to them during their confinement. He is also to observe that the fire and lights are all extinguished as soon as the evening gun is fired, except those which are permitted by proper authority, or under the inspection of centinels. It is likewise his duty to attend the gangway when any boats arrive aboard, and search them carefully, together with their rowers, that no spirituous liquors may be conveyed into the ship unless by permission of the commanding officers. In these several duties he is assisted by proper attendants, called his corporals, who also relieve the centinels and one another at certain periods.
MASTER of Arts, the first degree taken up in foreign universities, but the second in ours; candidates not being admitted to it till they have studied in the university seven years.
MASTER-Attendant, is an officer in the royal dockyards, appointed to halten and assist at the fitting out or dismantling, removing, or securing vessels of war, &c. at the port where he resides. He is particularly to observe, that his majesty's ships are securely moored, and for this purpose he is expected frequently to review the moorings which are sunk in the harbour, and observe that they are kept in proper repair. It is also his duty to visit all the ships in ordinary, and see that they are frequently cleaned and kept in order; and to attend at the general musters in the dockyards, taking care that all the officers, artificers, and labourers, registered in the navy-books, are present at their duty.
MASTER of the Ceremonies, is an officer instituted by King James I. for the more solemn and honourable reception of ambassadors, and strangers of quality, whom he introduces into the presence.—The badge of this office is a gold chain and medal, having on one side an emblem of peace, with King James's motto; and on the reverse the emblem of war, with Dieu et mon droit. He is always supposed to be a person of good address, and a master of languages, and has an appointment of 300l. a-year: he is constantly attending at court, and hath under him an assistant maiter, or deputy, at 6s. 8d. a-day, who holds his place during the king's pleasure.
There is also a third officer, called maréchal of the ceremonies, with 100l. a-year, whose business is to receive and distribute the master's orders, or the deputy's, for the service; but without their order he can do nothing. This is the king's gift.
MASTERS of Chancery are usually chosen out of the barristers of the common law; and sit in chancery, or at the rolls, as assistants to the lord chancellor and the master of the rolls. All these, so late as the reign of Queen Elizabeth, were commonly doctors of the civil law.—To them are also committed interlocutory reports, examination of bills in chancery, stating of accounts, taxing costs, &c. and sometimes, by way of reference, they are empowered to make a final determination of causes.
They have, time out of mind, had the honour to sit in the house of lords, though they have neither writs nor patent to empower them; but they are received as assistants to the lord chancellor and master of the rolls. They had anciently the care of inspecting all writs of summons, which is now performed by the clerk of the petty bag. When any message is sent from the lords to the commons, it is carried by the masters of chancery. Before them also affidavits are made, and deeds and recognizances acknowledged.
Besides these, who may be called masters of chancery ordinary, (being 12 in number, whereof the master of the rolls is reputed the chief), there are also masters of chancery extraordinary, appointed to act in the several counties of England beyond 10 miles distance from London, by taking affidavits, recognizances, &c. for the ease of the suitors of the court.
MASTER of the Faculties, an officer under the archbishop of Canterbury, who grants licences and dispensations: he is mentioned in the statute 22 and 23 Car. II. See COURT of Faculties.
MASTER Gunner. See GUNNER.
MASTER of the Horse is reckoned the third great officer of the court, and is an office of great honour and antiquity, and always (when not put in commission), filled by noblemen of the highest rank and abilities. He has the management and disposal of all the king's stables and bred horses. He has authority over the esquires and pages, coachmen, footmen, grooms, riders of the great horse, farriers, and smiths. He appoints all the other tradesmen who work for the king's stables; and by his warrant to the avener, makes them give an oath to be true and faithful. In short, he is intrusted with all the lands and revenues appropriated for the king's breed of horses, the expenses of the stable, and of the coaches, litters, &c. He alone has the privilege of making use of any of the king's horses, pages, footmen, &c.; and at any solemn cavalcade he rides next the king, and leads a horse of state. His salary is 1276l. 13s. 4d. per annum. There is also a maiter of the horse in the establishment of her majesty's household, with a salary of 800l. a-year.
MASTER of the Household, is an officer under the treasurer of the household, in the king's gift: his business is to survey the accounts of the household.—He has 661l. 13s. 4d. a-year wages, and 433l. 6s. 8d. board wages.
MASTER of the Mint, was anciently the title of him who is now called warden of the mint; whose office is to receive the silver and bullion which comes to the mint to be coined, and to take care thereof. The office of maiter and worker is now distinct: and this officer is allowed for himself and three clerks 650l. a-year.
MASTER of the Ordnance. See ORDNANCE.
MASTER of the Revels, an officer with an appointment of 100l. a-year, whose business is to order all things relating to the performance of plays, masques, balls, &c. at court. Formerly he had also a jurisdiction of granting licenses to all who travel to act plays, puppet shows, or the like diversions; neither could any new play be acted at either of the two houses till it had passed his perusal and license; but these powers were afterwards much abridged, not to say annihilated, by a statute for regulating playhouses, till the licensing plays by the lord chamberlain was established. established. This officer has a yeoman with 46l. 11s. 8d. a-year.
MASTER of the Rolls, a patent officer for life; who has the custody of the rolls and patents which pass the great seal, and of the records of the chancery.
In the absence of the lord chancellor or keeper, he also fits as judge in the court of chancery; and is by Sir Edward Coke called his affiant.
At other times he hears causes in the rolls chapel, and makes orders and decrees. He is also the first of the masters of chancery, and has their assistance at the rolls: but all hearings before him are appealable to the lord chancellor.
He has also his writ of summons to parliament, and fits next to the lord chief justice of England on the second woolpack. He has the keeping of the parliament rolls, and has the rolls-house for his habitation; as also the custody of all charters, patents, commissions, deeds, and recognizances, which being made of rolls of parchment gave rise to the name. Anciently he was called clerk of the rolls.
The authority of the master of the rolls to hear and determine causes, and his general power in the court of chancery, were the subjects of divers questions and disputes which were very warmly agitated; to quiet which it was declared by flat. 3 Geo. II. cap. 30. that all orders and decrees by him made, except such as by the course of the court were appropriated to the great seal alone, should be deemed to be valid; subject nevertheless to be discharged or altered by the lord chancellor, and so as they shall not be enrolled till the same are signed by his lordship.
In his gift are the fix clerks in chancery, the examiners, three clerks of the petty-bag, and the fix clerks of the rolls chapel where the rolls are kept. See ROLLS, CLERK, &c.
The master of the rolls is always of the privy council; and his office is of great profit, though much short of what it has been.
MASTER of a Ship, an officer to whom is committed the direction of a merchant vessel, who commands it in chief, and is charged with the merchandises abroad.
In the Mediterranean the master is frequently called patron, and in long voyages captain.
It is the proprietor of the vessel that appoints the master; and it is the master who provides the equipage, hires the pilots, sailors, &c. The master is obliged to keep a register of the seamen and officers, the terms of their contract, the receipts and payments, and, in general, every thing relating to his commission.
MASTER of a Ship of War, is an officer appointed by the commissioners of the navy, to take charge of navigating a ship from port to port under the direction of the captain. The management and disposition of the sails, the working of a ship into her station in the order of battle, and the direction of her movements in the time of action, and in other circumstances of danger, are also more particularly under his inspection. It is likewise his duty to examine the provisions, and accordingly to admit none into the ship but such as are found, sweet, and wholesome. He is moreover charged with the stowage; and for the performance of these services he is allowed several assistants who are properly termed mates and quartermasters.
MASTER of the Temple. The founder of the order of the templars, and all his successors, were called magni templi magistri; and ever since the dissolution of the order, the spiritual guide and director of the house is called by that name. See TEMPLE and TEMPLAR.
There were also several other officers under this denomination, as master of the wardrobe, with a salary of 2000l. a-year; master of the harriers, with 2000l. a-year; master of the staghounds, with 800l. a-year; master of the jewel-office, &c. all now abolished.
MASTER and Servant; a relation founded in convenience, whereby a man is directed to call in the assistance of others, where his own skill and labour will not be sufficient to answer the cares incumbent upon him. For the several sorts of servants, and how that character is created or destroyed, see the article SERVANT. In the present article we shall consider, first, the effect of this relation with regard to the parties themselves; and, secondly, its effects with regard to others.
1. The manner in which this relation affects either the master or servant. And, first, by hiring and service for a year, or apprenticeship under indentures, a person gains a settlement in that parish wherein he last served 40 days. In the next place, persons serving seven years as apprentices to any trade have an exclusive right to exercise that trade in any part of England. This law, with regard to the exclusive part of it, has by turns been looked upon as a hard law, or as a beneficial one, according to the prevailing humour of the times: which has occasioned a great variety of resolutions in the courts of law concerning it; and attempts have been frequently made for its repeal, though hitherto without success. At common law every man might use what trade he pleased; but this statute restrains that liberty to such as have served as apprentices: the adversaries to which provision say, that all restrictions (which tend to introduce monopolies) are pernicious to trade; the advocates for it allege, that unskilfulness in trades is equally detrimental to the public as monopolies. This reason indeed only extends to such trades, in the exercise whereof skill is required: but another of their arguments goes much farther; viz. that apprenticeships are useful to the commonwealth, by employing of youth, and learning them to be early industrious; but that no one would be induced to undergo a seven years servitude, if others, though equally skilful, were allowed the same advantages without having undergone the same discipline: and in this there seems to be much reason. However, the resolutions of the courts have in general rather confined than extended the restriction. No trades are held to be within the statute, but such as were in being at the making of it: for trading in a country village, apprenticeships are not requisite, and following the trade seven years is sufficient without any binding; for the statute only says, the person must serve as an apprentice, and does not require an actual apprenticeship to have existed.
A master may by law correct his apprentice for negligence gligence or other misbehaviour, so it be done with moderation: though, if the master or master's wife beats any other servant of full age, it is good cause of departure. But if any servant, workman, or labourer, assaults his master or dame, he shall suffer one year's imprisonment, and other open corporal punishment, not extending to life or limb.
By service all servants and labourers, except apprentices, become entitled to their wages; according to agreement, if menial servants; or according to the appointment of the sheriff or sessions, if labourers or servants in husbandry; for the statutes for regulation of wages extend to such servants only; it being impossible for any magistrate to be a judge of the employment of menial servants, or of course to affect their wages.
2. Let us now see how strangers may be affected by this relation of master and servant; or how a master may behave towards others on behalf of his servant, and what a servant may do on behalf of his master.
And, first, the master may maintain, that is, abet and assist, his servant in any action at law against a stranger: whereas, in general, it is an offence against public justice to encourage suits and animosities, by helping to bear the expense of them, and is called in law maintenance. A master also may bring an action against any man for beating or maiming his servant: but in such case he must assign, as a special reason for so doing, his own damage by the loss of his service; and this loss must be proved upon the trial. A master likewise may justify an assault in defence of his servant, and a servant in defence of his master: the master, because he has an interest in his servant, not to be deprived of his service; the servant, because it is part of his duty, for which he receives his wages, to stand by and defend his master. Also if any person do hire or retain my servant, being in my service, for which the servant departeth from me and goeth to serve the other, I may have an action for damages against both the new master and the servant, or either of them; but if the new master did not know that he is my servant, no action lies; unless he afterwards refuse to restore him upon information and demand. The reason and foundation upon which all this doctrine is built, seem to be the property that every man has in the service of his domestics; acquired by the contract of hiring, and purchased by giving them wages.
As for those things which a servant may do on behalf of his master, they seem all to proceed upon this principle, that the master is answerable for the act of his servant, if done by his command, either expressly given or implied: nam qui facit ser alium, facit per se. Therefore, if the servant commit a trespass by the command or encouragement of his master, the master shall be guilty of it: not that the servant is excused, for he is only to obey his master in matters that are honest and lawful. If an innkeeper's servants rob his guests, the master is bound to restitution; for as there is a confidence reposed in him, that he will take care to provide honest servants, his negligence is a kind of implied consent to the robbery; nam qui non prohibet, cum prohibere posset, jubeat. So likewise if the drawer at a tavern sells a man bad wine, whereby his health is injured, he may bring an action against the master; for although the master did not expressly order the servant to sell it to that person in particular, yet his permitting him to draw and sell it at all is implied a general command.
In the same manner, whatever a servant is permitted to do in the usual course of his business, is equivalent to a general command. If I pay money to a banker's servant, the banker is answerable for it: If I pay it to a clergyman's or a physician's servant, whose usual business it is not to receive money for his master, and he embezzles it, I must pay it over again. If a steward lets a lease of a farm, without the owner's knowledge, the owner must stand to the bargain: for this is the steward's business. A wife, a friend, a relation, that use to transact business for a man, are quod hoc his servants; and the principal must answer for their conduct: for the law implies, that they act under a general command; and without such a doctrine as this no mutual intercourse between man and man could subsist with any tolerable convenience. If I usually deal with a tradesman by myself, or constantly pay him ready money, I am not answerable for what my servant takes up upon trust: for here is no implied order to the tradesman to trust my servant: but if I usually lend him upon trust, or sometimes on trust and sometimes with ready money, I am answerable for all he takes up; for the tradesman cannot possibly distinguish when he comes by my order and when upon his own authority.
If a servant, lastly, by his negligence does any damage to a stranger, the master shall answer for his neglect: if a smith's servant lames a horse while he is shoeing him, an action lies against the master, and not against the servant. But in these cases the damage must be done while he is actually employed in the master's service; otherwise the servant shall answer for his own misbehaviour. Upon this principle, by the common law, if a servant kept his master's fire negligently, so that his neighbour's house was burned down thereby, an action lay against the master; because this negligence happened in his service: otherwise, if the servant, going along the street with a torch, by negligence lets fire to a house; for there he is not in his master's immediate service, and must himself answer the damage personally. But now the common law is, in the former case, altered by statute 6 Ann. c. 3. which ordains, that no action shall be maintained against any in whose house or chamber any fire shall accidentally begin; for their own loss is sufficient punishment for their own or their servant's carelessness. But if such fire happens through negligence of any servant (whose loss is commonly very little), such servant shall forfeit 100l. to be distributed among the sufferers; and, in default of payment, shall be committed to some workhouse, and there kept to hard labour for 18 months. A master is, lastly, chargeable if any of his family layeth or casteth any thing out of his house into the street or common highway, to the damage of any individual, or the common nuisance of his majesty's liege people; for the master hath the superintendence of all his household. And this also agrees with the civil law; which holds, that the pater familias, in this and similar cases, ob alterum culpam tenetur, five servi, five liberti.
We may observe, that in all the cases here put, the master may be frequently a loser by the trust reposed in his servant, but never can be a gainer: he may frequently be answerable for his servant's misbehaviour, but never can shelter himself from punishment by laying the blame on his agent. The reason of this is still uniform and the same; that the wrong done by the servant is looked upon in law as the wrong of the master himself; and it is a standing maxim, that no man shall be allowed to make any advantage of his own wrong.
MASTER Lead, in mining, a term used to express the larger vein of a metal, in places where there are several veins in the same mountain. Thus it happens, that there are seven, sometimes five, but more usually three veins or loads, parallel to each other, in the same mountain. Of these the middle vein is the largest, and is called the master load.
MASTER Wort. See IMPERATORIA, BOTANY Index.