3

pound and agree the matter between him and his apprentice, then the justice, or the mayor or other head officer shall take bond of the master to appear at the next sessions then to be holden in the county, or within the city, town corporate or market town, to be before the justices of the said county, or the mayor or head officer of the town corporate or market town, if the master dwell within any such.

And upon his appearance and hearing of the matter before the justice, or the mayor or other head officer, if it be thought meet unto them to discharge the apprentice of his apprenticehood, then the justices, or four of them at least, whereof one to be of the quorum, or the mayor or head officer, with the consent of three other of his brethren, or men of best reputation within the city, town corporate or market own, shall have power by authority hereof, in writing under their hands and seals, to pronounce and declare that they have discharged the apprentice of his apprenticehood and the cause thereof; and the writing so being made and enrolled by the clerk of the peace or town clerk amongst the records that he keepeth, shall be a suffi-' cient discharge for the said apprentice against his master, his executors and administrators, the indenture of apprenticehood or any law or custom to the contrary notwithstanding.

And if the default shall be found to be in the apprentice, then the justices, or the mayor or other head officer, with the assistance aforesaid, shall cause such due correction and punishment to be ministered unto him, as by their wisdom and discretion shall be thought meet..

By 5Eliz. c. 4, § 47, if any servant or apprentice of husbandry, or of any art, science or occupation aforesaid, unlawfully depart or flee into any other shire, it shall be lawful to the justices of the peace and to the mayors, bailiffs and other head officers of cities and towns corporate, for the time being justices of the peace there, to make and grant writs of capias, so many and such as shall be needful, to be directed to the sheriffs of the counties or to other head officers of the places whither such servants or apprentices shall so depart or flee to take their bodies, returnable before them at what time shall please them, so that if they come by such process that they be put in prison till they shall find sufficient surety well and honestly to serve their masters, mistresses or daines, from whom they so departed or fled, according to the order of the law.

By 20 G. II. c. 19, § 3, it shall and may be lawful to and for any two or more justices of the peace of the county, riding, city, liberty, town corporate or place where such

master or mistress shall inhabit, upon any complaint or application by any apprentice, upon whose binding out no larger a sum than five pounds of lawful British money was paid, touching or concerning any misusage, refusal or necessary provision, cruelty or other ill-treatment of or towards such apprentice, by his or her master or mistress, to summon such master or mistress to appear before such justices at a reasonable time, to be named in such suinions; and such justices shall and may examine into the matters of such complaint, and upon proof thereof made upon oath to their satisfaction, (whether the master or mistress be present or not, if service of the summons be also upon oath proved,) the said justices may discharge such apprentice by warrant or certificate under their hands and seals, for which warrant or certificate no fee shall be paid.

And by § 4, it shall be lawful to and for such justices, upon application or complaint made upon oath by any master or mistress, against any such apprentice, touching or concerning any misdemeanor, miscarriage or ill-behaviour in such his or her service, (which oath such justices are hereby empowered to administer,) to hear, examine and determine the same, and to punish the offender by commitment to the house of correction, there to remain and be corrected and held to hard labour for a reasonable time, not exceeding one calendar month, or otherwise by discharging such apprentice in manner and form before mentioned.

By 5 provided, that if any person or persons shall think himself, herself or themselves aggrieved by such determination, order or warrant, of such justice or justices as aforesaid, (save and except any order or commitment,) he, she or they may appeal to the next general quarter sessions of the peace to be held for the county, riding, liberty, city, town corporate, or place where such determination or order shall be made, which said next general quarter sessions is hereby empowered to hear and finally determine the same, and to give and award such costs to any of the respective persons, appellant or respondent, as the said sessions shall judge reasonable, not exceeding forty shillings; the same to be levied by distress and sale.

By § 6 and 7 it is also provided, that no certiorari or other process shall issue or be issuable to remove any proceedings whatsoever had in pursuance of this Act into any of her Majesty's courts of record at Westminster.

By 6 G. III. c. 25, if any apprentice (except such whose master shall have received with such apprentice the sum of ten pounds) shall absent himself from his master's service

before the term of his apprenticeship shall be expired, every such apprentice shall, at any time or times thereafter, whenever he shall be found, be compelled to serve his said master for as long a time as he shall have so absented himself from such service, unless he shall make satisfaction for the loss he shall have sustained by his absence from his service, and so from time to time, as often as any such apprentice shall, without leave from his master, absent himself from his service before the term of his contract shall be fulfilled; and in case any such apprentice shall refuse to serve as hereby required, or to make such satisfaction to his master, such master may complain upon oath to any justice of the peace of the county or place where he shall reside, which oath such justice is hereby empowered to administer and to issue a warrant under his hand and seal for apprehending any such apprentice, and such justice, upon hearing the complaint, may determine what satisfaction shall be made to such master by such apprentice, and in case such apprentice shall not give security to make such satisfaction, according to such determination, it shall and may be lawful for such justice to commit every such apprentice to the house of correction for any term not exceeding three months. By § 3, such application must be made within seven years after the end of the term of the apprenticeship.

And by § 5, any party aggrieved may appeal to the next general quarter sessions, giving six days' notice to the justice, and entering into a recognizance within three days after such notice, with sufficient surety, to try such appeal and abide the order of and pay such costs as should be awarded by the sessions.

Upon these acts Mr. Chitty, in his treatise on the law relative to apprentices, observes, that a more extensive power is given to the sessions than to justices in the first instance; that under the statute 5 Eliz. c. 4, one justice is only constituted a mediator, and has no power to proceed unless the master agree to be bound by his determination, and if he do not, the only course is to resort to the sessions; but if the master agree, though the apprentice do not, the magistrate may, by order under his hand and seal, direct him to be discharged, for no option is given by the statute to the apprentice, but only to the master.

The power given over indentures of apprenticeship to two magistrates, by the 20 G. II., c. 19, is confined to apprentices where the premium does not exceed five pounds.

Besides the power of discharging, the sessions have, by the $5 § of 5 Eliz, c. 4, power to cause such due correction and

punishment to be ministered unto the apprentice as they may think fit, and by virtue of this clause they may commit the apprentice; and Dr. Burn observes, that this being left inde finite, it seems most apposite that the justices commit the apprentice to the house of correction for a time, to be kept to hard labour, or otherwise corrected, as the nature of the offence may require; but that this clause in the act does not restrain but enlarges the power of magistrates over apprentices beyond the power given them over masters, whom the justices cannot punish, and the magistrates may inflict corpora. punishment, or discharge an apprentice at their discretion]

Proceedings at Sessions under 5 Elizabeth.

An order of discharge may be made upon the application of either party; for an apprentice may be discharged from a bad master, and a bad apprentice from his master-1 Saund. 315, 16, 313, n. 2.

But the sessions cannot discharge without setting forth some cause in their order-1 Bott. 577; 2 Str. 1013; Ib. 704; 1 Bott. 576.

The usual causes for which the apprentice complains against the master are cruelty and misusing his contract, either by neglecting to instruct him, or the like.

And when the master applies to get rid of his apprentice it is generally upon the ground of incorrigible behaviour. There is no power to discharge for sickness, as, "where the apprentice was lame and in the surgeons' opinion incurably afflicted," for the master takes him for better or worse, and is to provide for him in sickness and in health-1 Str. 89; 1 Bott. 574.

The order must be under the hands and seals of four justices, and enrolled as the act directs, or the superior courts will set it aside.-1 Saund. 316, n. 5; 2 Salk. 470; 1 Bott. 572; 1 Str. 99.

The power of discharge is confined, in counties, to four justices at the least, and must be made at a general sessions, and not a private sessions, or the order may be set aside.— 1 Skin. 89; 1 Bott. 572.

It has been decided and settled, that the justices have power to order restitution of the premium received with the apprentice, or such part of it as they may think fit, as an incident to their authority to discharge.-1 Saund. 313, n. 3, cites 1 Salk. 67, 68; 2 Salk. 491, S. C.; Skin. 108; 1 Bott. 571, 576, acc.; 1 Stra. 79, contra, and see the proceedings in 2 Barnard K. B., 244, 296, and Chitty on App. Laws, 107. If against the Master.

Although the 5 Eliz. requires the discharge to be made on

the master's appearance, the court held that the act must have a reasonable construction, and the sessions might procceed in the master's absence, otherwise, if he ran away, the apprentice could not be discharged.-2 Salk. 491; 1 Bott. 572.

Common form of an Indenture of Apprenticeship. This Indenture witnesseth, that A.B. of the age of years, the son of B.C. of the township of - in the county of yeoman, by and with the consent of his said father, doth put himself apprentice to C. D. of the city of Toronto, shoemaker, to learn his art, and with him, after the manner of an apprentice, to serve, from the day of the date of these presents, unto the full end and term of-years from thence next following, to be fully complete and ended; during which term the said apprentice his master faithfully shall serve, his secrets keep, his lawful commands everywhere gladly do: he shall do no damage to his said master, nor see to be done of others, but to his power shall let or forthwith give warning to his said. master of the same: he shall not waste the goods of his said master, nor lend them unlawfully to any he shall not commit fornication nor contract matrimony within the said term: he shall not play at cards, dice tables, or any other unlawful games, whereby his said master may have any loss with his own goods or others, during the said term, without license of his said master he shall neither buy nor sell: he shall not haunt taverns or play-houses, nor absent himself from his said master's service day or night, unlawfully, but in all things as a faithful apprentice he shall behave himself towards his said master and all his, during the said term. And the said C. D. in consideration of the faithful services of the said apprentice, and of the sum of £ of lawful and current money of the province of Canada, to him in hand paid by the said B. C. at or immediately before the execution hereof, the receipt whereof is hereby acknowledged, his said apprentice in the art of a shoemaker which he useth, by the best means that he can, shall teach and instruct, or cause to be taught and instructed, finding and providing unto the said apprentice sufficient meat, drink, lodging and all other necessaries, during the said term, (and moreover, here add any special contract for wages, in case any are to be paid to the apprentice), and for the true performance of all and every the said covenants and agreements, each of the said parties bindeth himself unto the other, and others of them firmly by these presents. In witness whereof, the parties above named to these indentures interchangeably have put their hands and