QUARTER-DAYS. 594 QUARTET. terminate and rent Ijecomcs payable in England. Rents are generally made payable by the express terms of the lease on the usual quarter-days. These are, in England and Ireland, Lady day, March 25 ; Midsummer day, June 24 ; ilichaelmas day, September 29; and Christmas day, December 25. In Scotland there are two 'legal terms' in each year, and two 'conventional terms,' the latter being only adopted when expressly so agreed. The legal terms are Whitsunday, May 15, and Mar- tinmas, Xovember 11; and the conventional terms are Candlemas, February 2, and Lammas, August 1. The law of Scotland differs from that of England in this, that if nothing is said between the parties on letting houses and lands, these legal terms are impliedly included as part of the agreement, both as regards time of entry and payment of rent. QUARTERING. In heraldry, the bearing of two or more coats on a shield divided liy horizon- tal and jierpendicular lines. See Heraldry, sec- tion on Marshaling of Arms. QUARTERMASTER. In the United States Army, a commissicmed ullicer serving in the quar- termaster's dei^artmeut at an army post or in a regiment ; in which latter instance he is a regimental officer, usimlly of lieutenant's rank, detailed by the commanding ollicer to jjcrforra the duties of regimental (iiKirfcrmnnter. He is assisted by the regimental quartermaster-ser- geant, and is responsible for the proper assign- ment of quarters for officers, men, animals, and stores, and the superintendence and procuration of all regimental supplies. There is a quarter- master-sergeant to each company, battery, or troop. The Quartermaster's Department at Washington, D. C, is one of the most important bureaus of the War Department, and is charged with the duty of providing means of transportation of everj' character which may be nee<led in the movement of troops and material of war. It furnishes also all public animals eniplo_yed in the service of the army, the forage consumed by them, wagons and all articles necessary for their use, except the equipment of cavalry and artillerj'. It furnishes clothing, camp and garrison equipage, barracks, storehouses, and other buildings; constructs and repairs roads, railways, bridges; builds and charters ships, boats, docks, and wharves needed for military purposes : and attends to all mat- ters not expressly assigned to some other bureau. The Quartermaster's Department in 1902 consisted of 1 quartermaster-general, with rank of briga- dier-general ; 4 assistant quartermaster-generals, with tl>e rank of colonel; 8 deputy quartermaster- generals, with the rank of lieutenant-colonel ; 14 quartermasters, with the rank of major; and 31 assistant i|uartermasters, with the rank of cap- tain (including 1 military st(jre-keeper) . Under the terms of the Army Act ot 1901, vacancies in this and other staff departments which cannot be filled by promotion within tlie department will be filled by details of line officers. In the British Army regimental quartermas- ters are usually non-commissioned or warrant offi- cers of long service, who receive the commission of honorary lieutenant with their appointment of quartermaster. They combine subsistence with their regular quartermaster's duties, being responsible for the quantity of all food supplies required by the regiment or corps with which they serve. There are no company or troop quar- termaster-sergeants, color-sergeants (q.v. ) of companies being responsible for that branch of work. There is also a quartermaster-general with a staff. See Army Organization. In the na'y and merchant service a quarter- master is a petty officer who assists in the navi- gation of the ship. At sea he .superintends the steering of the helmsman, looks out for the log, writes up the 'colunuis' in the log book, and has charge of the navigator's stores. He also keeps a lookout with his spy glass both in poit and at sea, reporting such occurrences as are of interest to the commanding officer or officer of the deck. QUARTER SESSIONS. In England, a court or meeting of justices of the peace, who assemble every quarter of tlie year, for judicial as well as miscellaneous business. It is an inferior court of record, having power to pimish contempt of court, to adjourn cases, and summon juries for ad- journed sittings. The meetings are fixed by statute to be held in the first full week after De- cember 28th, March .31st, .lune 24th, and October 11th, respectively. The chief officer of the Court of Quarter Sessions is the clerk of the jieace. The original jurisdiction of the Court of Quarter Ses- sions is largely confined to criminal business, but it has certain minor civil jursdiction by vir- tue of statutes, and also appeals from certain courts of sununary jurisdiction. Most of the administrative business formerlj' attended to by the Court of Quarter Sessions was transferred to the county councils in 1888. In Scotland there is also a court of quarter sessions of the peace, held four times a year at the county tow^l. Con- sult: Pritchard, Jnrisdietion, Practice, and Pro- cedure of the Quarter Sessions (London, 1903) ; Archbold, Practice of the Quarter Sessions (Lon- don, 1898). QUARTET (It. quartetto, from quarto. Lat. quartus, fourth, from quattuor, four). A con- certed composition for fcmr voices or instruments, in which all the parts are real, i.e. no one can be omitted without injuring the proper effect of the whole. As early as the fifteenth century four- part writing had been recognized as the kind most suitable for combining harmonic fullness and clearness with ease of execution. Since then it has been regarded as the groundwork of all composition. During the seventeenth century, however, the tendency was toward the employ- ment of large masses in double and triple choruses (Schools of Komc and Venice, See Mu.sic, Schools of CoiirosiTiox.) But during the eighteenth century the development of the string quartet led to a return to four-part writ- ing. In the nineteenth century ^lendelssohn and Schumann did much to popularize the male quartet. One of the highest forms of mod- ern music is that written f<n- the string quartet, which consists of two violins, viola, and cello. Although this combination of instruments was established by Monteverde (q.v.) as the founda- tion of his orchestra, no music was written for it until a century and a half later, when Haydn recognized the possibilities of this group of in- struments. Haydn is the father of the symphony. He took the sonata form and in 175.') wrote a miniature symphony for the string quartet. Al- though this first qiartet is very crude, Haydn soon acquired mastery of the form. He wrote in all 83 quartets. Mozart, who greatly developed
