ADM 



ADM 



■prerogative : and the goods cf the intcflatca were givf n to 

 the ordinary by tho crown, who might ici/e and keep them 

 ^•ithoiit walling, and alio give, ahtne, or ftll them at his 

 will, and difpole of the money in pios ujhs. Tlie goods of 

 the intellate being thus vefted in the ordinaiy upon folemn 

 and confcientious triift, the reverond prelates were not ac- 

 countable to any, but to God and thcmftlvcs, for their con- 

 duct. The ordinary, however, negleftcd to difcharge his 

 truft ; and the abufe was carried to fuch a length of iniqui- 

 ty, that Innocent IV. in 1250, lays it down for eftahliflicd 

 canon law, that " in Bnlanira tcr/in pars l>onon/>:> (Iccedciiliiim 

 ab inlejlato in opus ecclefij el paupcrum clifpenfanda ejl." The 

 popil'U clergy therefore took to themfelves, under the name 

 of the church and poor, the whole refidue of the eftate of 

 the deceafed, after the partes rationaliks, or two-thirds, of 

 the wife and children were dedufted, without paying his 

 lawful debts or other charges thereon. For this reafon it 

 was enacled, as the firlt check on the exorbitant power of 

 ordinaries, by the Hat. of Wetlm. 2. 13 Edw. I. c. 19. 

 that the ordinary fhall be bound to pay the debts of the in- 

 tellate fo far as his goods will extend. And in order to 

 prevent the ordinaries from keeping any longer the adminif- 

 tration in their own hands, the llatute 31 Edw. III. c. 1 1, 

 provides that, in cafe of intellacr, the ordinary fcall de- 

 pute the neareft and moll lawful friends of the deceafed to 

 adminiller his goods ; which adminiilrators are put upon the 

 fame footing with regard to fuits and to accounting, as execu- 

 tors appointed by will. This is the original of adminiilrators, 

 as they at prefent ftand, who are only the officers of the 

 ordinary, appointed by him in purfuance of this ftatute. 

 Tiie ftatute 21 Hen. VIII. c. 5. enlarges a little more the 

 power of the ecclefiallical judge, and permits him to grant 

 adminiftration either to the widow, or the next of kin, or 

 to both of them, at his own difcretion ; and where two 

 or more perfons are in the fame degree of kindred, gives 

 the ordinary his eleftion to accept whicli ever he pleafcs. 

 Ulackft. Com. vol. ii. p. 434. 8vo. 



There are divers forts of admimjlrators. 



Adminijlrator durante minore aetale, is where an infant is 

 tntitled to adminiftration of the goods of an inteftate ; in 

 ■which cafe adminiftration is granted to another, until he is 

 of the age of twenty-one years. Though where the infant 

 is made executor, fuch adminiftration, during his minority, 

 ceafes at his coming of the age of feventeen, 5 Rep. 29. 

 C Rep. 27. 



^ Adnunijirator cum tejlamenlo onnexo, is one to whom admi- 

 niftration, with the will annexed, is granted upon an execu- 

 tor's refufal to prove the teftament, or upon his dying be- 

 fore the probate. I Inft. 113. 



Admmjfirntor de bonis non, &c. is one to whom adminiftra- 

 tion is granted of the goods of a teftator remaining un- 

 adminiftered, by reafon of his executors dying inteftate. 

 This adminiftrator is the only legal reprefentative of the de- 

 ceafed in matters of perfonal property. But he may, as 

 ■\vell as an original adminiftrator, have only a limited or fpe- 

 cial adminiftnition committed to his care, viz. of certain 

 fpecific effedls, fuch as a teim of y ears, or the like : tlie 

 left being committed to others, i Roll. Abr. 908. 2 Roll. 

 Abr. 907. There is alfo 



Adminijlrator pendente lite; and durante aljentia extra 

 regnum. 



If a woman have goods thus committed to her charge, or 

 adminiftration, flie is called adminijlratrix ; and is account- 

 able, &c. in like manner as an adminijlrator. 



Administrator, in Scots La-w, a perfon legally im- 

 powered to aft for another, whom the law prefumes inca- 

 pable of ading for hirafclf. Thus tutors or curators are 

 6 



fomctlmes ftyled adininj^rators in lanv, to pupils, minors, or 

 fatuous perfons. ]>ut more generally the term is u'td to 

 imply that power which is conferred by the law upon a 

 father, over the perions and eftates of his children during 

 their minority. 



Administrator is alfo ufed for the advocate of a 

 church. 



Administrator is alfo ufed for a perfon appointed to 

 receive, manage, and diltribute the revenues of an hofpital, 

 or religious houfe. 



Administrator is alfo ufed for a prince who enjoys the 

 revenue of a fecularifed biiliiprick. 



Yet this title does not hold univerfallv : the king of Eng- 

 land, as elector of Brunlwick-Lunenburgh, for inftance, is 

 not called adminijlrator, but duke of Bremen and \'erden ; 

 and the king of Pniffia is not adminijlrator, but duke of 

 Magdeburg, and prince of Plalberftadt. 



Administrator is alfo ufed for the regent or protcftof 

 of a kingdom, during the minority of its proper prince, 

 or even a vacancy of the throne. 



The pope pretends to the adminiftration of the empire, 

 during the vacancy, by cenfure, or fufpenfion. 



Administrator is fometimes ufed for the prefident of a 

 province. 



ADMINISTRATRIX, fee Administrator. 



ADMIRAL, a great officer who commands the naval 

 forces of a kingdom or ftate, and takes cognizance by him- 

 felf, or officers appointed by him, of all maritime caules. 



Authors are divided about the origin and denomination of 

 this important officer, -whom we find eftabliflied, with fome 

 variation, in moll kingdoms thit border on the fea. Spel- 

 man conceives, that the name and dignity were introduced 

 among us from the Saracens, by means of the Crufades : 

 and it is alledged, that there are no inftances of admirals in 

 this part of Europe before the year 1284, or 1286, ■v\-hen 

 Philip of France, who had attended St. Lewis in the wars 

 againft the Saracens, created an admiral. The name of 

 this officer once occurs in the hiftory of France, in the year 

 558. And. Com. vol. i. p. 29. Du-Cange aflures us, 

 that the Sicilians were the firft, and the Genoefe the next 

 after them, who gave the denomination admiral to the com- 

 manders of their naval armaments ; and that they took it 

 from the Saracen, or Arabic amir, or emir, a general name 

 for any commanding officer. — Some fay, that the firft 

 admiral mentioned in Englilh hiftory was in the reign of 

 Edward I. in 1 297 ; and that the firft title of admiral of 

 England confeiTed upon a fubjefl, was given by patent of 

 Rich. II. to the earl of Arundel and Surrv in 1387. 



Spelman, however, 13 of opinion, that the title of admiral 

 was firft ufed in the reign of Henry III. becaufe it does 

 not occur in the laws of Oleron, enafted in 1266, nor is 

 mentioned by Brafton, who wrote about that time : and in 

 a charter, 8 Henry III. which granted the office to 

 Richard de Lacy, the title is not ufed ; but in the 56th year 

 of the fame reign, the hiftorians ufed the appellation ad- 

 miral, and it is found alfo in charters. 



Three or four admirals were formerly appointed in the 

 Englilh feas ; thefe held their office durante bene p-acito, 

 and had particular limits from the mouth of the Thames, 

 to the north, fouth, or weft, fubjeft to their jurifdittion. 

 We had alfo admirals of the Cinque Ports as early as the 

 reign of Edward III. when William Latimer was called 

 Admiralis quinque portuum. But the title of Admirnlis 

 AngUic was not frequent till the reign of Henry IV. when 

 the title was given to the king's brother ; and after this 

 period it was granted in all commiffions to fucceeding 

 admirals. 



The 



