Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume I.djvu/641

 APPRENTICE APKICOT 605 magistrate may think just. If the apprentice refuse or neglect to perform his part of the contract, the indenture may be cancelled for the benefit of the master ; and the apprentice forfeits all wages then due him. If the master refuses to perform his part of the contract, the parent or guardian may bring an action for damages against him, and may recover not less than $100 nor more than $1,000, to be paid to the apprentice or to his parent or guardian for his benefit. In Vermont minors above 14 years of age may be bound as apprentices by their father or guardian, and the consent of the minor must be attested by his signature to the indentures. The law on this point is similar in Rhode Island, Connecticut, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Missouri, and other states. In Ohio, if the guardian binds the infant, the court of common pleas must approve the contract. Among the more important and practical points which have been decided in respect to apprenticeship, it has been held that as the agreement on the part of the master is in the nature of a personal trust, the indenture cannot be assigned by him, at all events not without the infant's consent, or unless, as by the custom of London, such assignment be sanctioned by settled usage. But an assignment without the infant's con- sent, though it do not bind him, may hold the master to his own covenants. In some of our states the consent of both father and infant is made essential. The apprentice cannot aban- don the service unless his master desert him. Nor is the apprentice's misconduct in general a defence for the master in an action against the latter on his covenants. For though one may dismiss a mere servant for misconduct, a master cannot turn away an apprentice for or- dinary misbehavior, such as idleness or drunk- enness ; but he may discharge him for theft or for any wilful injury. Illness of the apprentice does not discharge the master ; and in a recent case in Massachusetts the father recovered full wages for the whole period of the apprentice's last illness and up to the time of his death. The master is also bound to provide proper medicines and care for the apprentice in case of his sickness. If the apprentice run away and go into another person's service, the mas- ter is entitled to recover the full value of his labor, without deduction of the wages paid the apprentice by his new employer. The master has also an action for the value of the apprentice's services against any one who en- tices him away, or wilfully harbors him after his desertion, with a knowledge of the appren- ticeship. Though the master may chastise the minor as a parent may, yet he cannot authorize any one else to inflict the punishment ; and it has been held in New York that whipping the apprentice for absenting himself at a trial where he was required as a witness, was as- sault and battery. Where an apprentice was bound to the master and his executors, they carrying on the same business, it was held that the widow, who was executrix and continued the master's business, was bound to instruct the minor, and he was bound to render her service. As the infant is not bound at common law by his covenants, it is usual to take security from some responsible person for the performance of the contract by the apprentice ; and in such a case the surety must be a party to the arti- cles. The contract is dissolved by consent of all parties. The death of the master also dis- charges the obligation of the apprentice, and so does his bankruptcy or insolvency, or his abandonment of the business in which he agreed to instruct the apprentice. Al'K I. I. Fedor, a Russian grand admi- ral, born in 1671, died Nov. 10, 1728. He was one of the leading men of the reign of Peter the Great, and is especially remarkable as the creator of the Russian navy. During the war between Sweden and Russia he expelled the Swedes from Ingria, in 1710 conquered Viborg in Finland, and when war with Turkey broke out, in 1711, he commanded in the Black sea. In 1713 he attacked Finland from the sea, and devastated the shores of Sweden, destroying hundreds of villages, and many towns and iron works. He accompanied Peter in his warlike expedition against Persia, and served on the Caspian sea. He always enjoyed the entire confidence of Peter, though firmly opposed to his reforms, and more than once implicated in extensive malversations. II. Stefan Fedorovitfh, a relative of the preceding, died Aug. 31, 1758. When young he served in the army of Mtinnich against the Turks, rose rapidly, and, returning to the court of the empress Elizabeth, distin- guished himself by his decided opposition to the policy of the king of Prussia and his diplomatic adherents, including Count Lestocq, the favorite of the empress. At the beginning of the seven years' war Apraxin, with the rank of field mar- shal, commanded an army against Frederick the Great. In May, 1757, he invaded Prussia, took Memel, advanced into the interior, destroying everything, and on Aug. 30 won the battle of Gross-Jagerndorf against the Prussian general Lehwald. Instead, however, of marching on Berlin, to which capital the road was open, Apraxin retreated to Courland, having, as it is pretended, received news of the sickness of the empress Elizabeth, and having conspired with the grand chancellor Bestusheff to raise to the throne her grandnephew Paul, over the head of his father, Peter III. After the empress re- covered, Apraxin was tried by court martial, but died in prison before the trial ended. APRICOT (old Eng. apricoclc, Fr. abricot, Ger. Aprilcose ; probably from Lat. arbor prcecox, early tree), the fruit of prunw Armeniaca or Armeniaca vulgaris, of the order rosacece. It is a small, rapidly growing tree, attaining to the height of 20 to 30 feet, with a somewhat spread- ing head, the leaves heart-shaped, smooth, and shining. The flowers are usually white and appear before the leaves indeed, blossoming before any other fruit tree in the early spring. The fruit seems to be intermediate between the