MAJ
Right which the Lord has, on the Death of the Chief of a Family Mainmortable (i. e. fubjecl to this Right) of ta- king the beft Moveable in the Houfe ; or in default of that, they offer'd him the Right Hand of the Deceafed, in token that he could ferve him no longer. This Right was not uniform ; fome People were Main-mortable in all their Effects Moveable and Hereditary 5 others in one only.
MAINOUR, Mamxr, or Meinour, in Law, fignifies the thing that a Thief takes away or Heals. Thus, to be ta- ken with the Manour, is to be taken with the Thing ftolen about him. If the Defendant were taken with the Ma- nour, and fo carried to Court, in antient Times they would arraign him on the Mainour, without any Appeal or Indictment. The word comes from the French Maimer or Mainover, to hold in the hand.
MAINPRISE,. in Law, the taking or receiving a Man into friendly Cuftody, that otherwife is or might be com- mitted to Prifon ; upon Security given for his forth-coming at a Day afligncd. They who thus undertake for any, are call'd Mainpernors, becaufe they receive him into their hands 5 whence alfo comes the word Mainpernable, deno- ting the,Perfon who may be thus bailed. See Bail.
Man-mod makes a great deal of difference between Bail and Mainprife : for he that is mainprifed is already faid to be at large after the Day he is let to Mainprife till the Day of his Appearance ; but 'tis otherwife where a Man is let tu Bail to four or two Men, by the Lord Juflice in Eyre of the Foreft, or any other Judge, until a certain Day ; for there he is always accounted by the Law to be in their Ward and Cuftody for the Time ; and they may, if they pleafe, keep him in Prifon all that time. S_o that he who is fo bail'd, ihall not be faid to be at large, or at his own liberty.
Mainprife is alfo an Undertaking in a Sum certain : Bail anfwers the Condemnation in Civil Caufes, and in Crimi- nals, Body for Body.
The Author of the Mirror of Juftice fays, that Pledges are thofe which bail or redeem any thing but the Body of a Man, and Main-pernors thofe that free the Body : Pledges therefore belong properly to real and mix'd. Actions, and Mainpernors to perfonal. The word Main- frife is compounded of the French Main, Hand, and prim, taken.
MAINTENANCE, inLaw, is the maintaining or up- holding a Caufe or Suit between others, either by Word, Writing, Countenance or Deed : Metaphorically taken from the fuccouring a young Child, that learns to go by one's hand ; and ufed in the evil part in fome of our Statutes. When a Man's Act in this kind is efleem'd Maintenance, and when not, fee Brooks and Kitchin. There lies a Writ againft a Maintainer, call'd a Writ of Main- tenance.
MAJOR, in the Art of War, a Name given to fevcral Officers of different Qualities and Functions.
Major- General is he who receives the General's Orders, and delivers them out to the Majors of the Brigades, with whom he concerts what Troops arc to mount the Guard, what to go on Parties, what to form Detachments, or to be fent on Convoys, E£c. It is his buiinefs alfo to view the Ground to incamp on, and he is next fubordinate to the General and Lieutenant-General. See General.
Major of a Brigade, either of Horfe or Foot, is he who receives Orders, and the Word, from the Major-General, and gives them to the particular Majors of each Regi- ment. See Brigade.
Major of a Regiment of Horfe, is the firft Captain of the Regiment, and commands in the abfence of the Matte de Camp.
Major of a Regiment, is an Officer, whofe buiinefs it is, to convey all Orders to the Regiment, to dtaw it up, and exercife it ; to fee it march in good Order, to look to its Quarters, and to rally it, if it happen to be broke in an Engagement, iSc. He is the only Officer of a Regiment of Foot, who is allowed to be on horfeback in time of Service ; but he tides, that he might fpeedily get from place to place, as occafion ferves. See Regiment.
There is alfo in a Garifon an Officer next to the De- puty-Governour, which is call'd the Town-Major : He ought to understand Fortification, and hath charge of the Guards, Round, Patrols, and Centinels.
There are alfo Ads-Major, Drums-Major, and other Offi- cers 5 fo call'd by reafon of fome Seniority or Preroga- tive that they have over the reft.
MAJOR, in Law, is a Perfon who is of Age to manage his own Affairs. By the Civil Law, a Man is not a Ma- jor till the Age of 2 5 Yeats ; in England he is Major at ai, and in Normandy at 20.
MAJOR, in Logic, is underftood of the firft Propo- rtion of a regularSyllogifm. 'Tis call'd Major, becaufe it has a more exteniive Senfe than the Minor Proportion, as containing the principal Term. See Sylhgifm.
( 4§P ) M A L
MAJOR and MINOR, in Muiic, are fpOken of the Concords which differ from each other by a Semi-tone. Thereare Major and Minor Thirds, £i?c. The Major Tone is the Difference between the ;th and 4 th, and theylfci.rSemi- tone is the Difference between the Major 4th and the 3d;
»rT#?r? ^fP affes lhe ^»°r by aComma. SeeOW.
MAJOR-DOMO, an Italian Term, frequently ufed to lignify a Steward. '
The Title of Major-Domo was formerly given in the C ° U "r ™ P ™ ces to , thrc ° different kinds of Officers. U*> \° ** P fficcr who took ca re of what related to the Prince s I able or Eating, otherwife call'd Eleater Pr*- fetlus Menf.c, Architriclinus, Dapifer, and Fnncefs Coquorum. idly, Major-Domo was alfo applied to the Steward of the Houmold. ^dly, The Title ofMajor-Domo was alfo given to the Chief Minifter, to whom the Prince deputed the Administration of all his Affairs, foreign and domeftick relatmg to War as well as Peace, lnftances of Major- Domo's m the two firlt Senfes are frequent, both in the Englifi, French, and Norman Affairs.
MAKE, in Law, fignifies to perform and execute. Thus, to make his Law, is to perform that Law to which he had formerly bound himfelf; i.e. to clear himfelf of an Aflion commene'd againft him, by his own Oath and the Oath of his Neighbours. To make Services, or Cujiom, is nothing elfe but to perform.
MALACIA, a Difeafe confifting in a depraved Appe- tite, wherein the Patient covets and longs for fome parti- cular kind of Food with extraordinary Earneftnefs, and eats it to Excefs. As when a Woman with Child is vehe- mently defirous of Herrings, or any other ufual Di/h. Many Authors confound this Affection with another call'd Tica, confifting in a Depravation of Appetite, which leads the Patient to covet things unnatural and abfurd as Lime Coals, iSc. The Malacia fcems to arife from an ill Dilpo- fttion of the Mcnftruum in the Stomach ; or from fome Defeft in the Imagination, which determines it to fome one thing rather than another. The word feems derived irom the Greek ,</«Ws, foft : too lax a Tone of the Sto- mach being generally the Occafion of Indigeflion and un- ufual Cravings.
MALANDERS, a Difeafe in Horfes fo called from the Italian Malandare, to go ill. It confifts in certain Chops or Chinks, appealing on the infide of the Fore-Legs, 'jutt againft the bending of the Knee, which void a ied° /harp and biting Water. '
MALE, the Sex which has the Parts of Generation without-wards, and which has ordinarily the Prehemi- nence over the other.
MALEBRANCHISM, the Doflrine or Sentiments of Father Maletrtmch, a Prieft of the Oratory of France. Ma- lelranchifm is in a great meafure the fame with Cartefianifm. It muft beown'd however, that tho F. Malebranch thought the fame with Des Cartes, yet he does not feem to have follow'd him, but to have met with him. Mahbranchifm is contain'd in the Recherche de la rente; and to give a ge- neral Notion of it, we need only repeat what M. Fontenelle fays of that Work. The Enquiry after Truth, fays he, is full of God. God is the only Agent, and that too in 'the ftrifteft fenfe. All Power of Acting, all Aflions belong immediately to him. Second Caufes are no Caufes. They are only Occafions that determine the Action of God ; Oc- cafional Caufes. SeeCaufe. F. Malebranch, however, does not here lay down his Syffem entire with regard to' Reli- gion, or rather the Manner in which he would reconcile Religion to his Syttem of Philofophy. That he rcferv'd for his Chriftian Comerfations, printed in 1577. where he proves the Exiftence of a God, the Corruption of Human Nature by Original Sin, the Neceffitv cf a Mediator and of Grace. Malebranchijm, notwithstanding, appears to many Perfons not only ill grounded, but even dangerous and dcftructive to Religion : and has accoidingly been vi- goroufly oppofed by many zealous French Authors The firft was M. Fouier. After him came M. Arnaud 5 and in 171 5, (the Year F. Malebranch die*!) F. du Tertre, a Jefuif, publtlh'd an ample Confutation (as he imagines) of his whole Syftem. That part which relates to our feeing all things in God, has been anfwcr'd by Mr. Locke.
MALEDICTION, in Law,, a Curfe ufually annex'd to Donations of Lands, iSc to Churches and Religious Hou- fes ; imprecating the mod direful Punifhments to thofe who fhould infringe them.
MALIGNANT, in Medicine, a Difeafe greatly aggra- vated : The word is generally applied to iuch Fevers as are Epidemical, or Infectious, and are attended with Spots and Eruptions of various kinds. See Fever.
MALLEABLE, fomething hard and duaile, and that may be beaten, forg'd and extended under the Hammer without breaking. All Metals arc Malleable, excepting Quiclfilver ; but Gold in the grcateft degree of all. ThcChymifts have long fought the Fixation of Mercury, to render it malleable. 'Tis :i popular Error, that ever IHiii th«
