MAI 
c. 6. direfts, that, if a man (hall malicioufly and unlaw- 
fully cut off the ear of any of the king’s fubjefts, lie 
fliall not only forfeit treble damages to the party grieved, 
io be recovered by aftion of trefpafs at common law, as a 
civil fatisfaftion ; but alfo iol. by way of fine to the king, 
which was his criminal amercement; and, by 22 and 23 
Car. II. c. 1, called the Coventry Aft, it is enacted, that, 
if any one (hall, of malice aforethought, or by lying in 
wait, cut out or difable the tongue, put out an eye, flit 
the nofe, cut off the nofe or lip, or cut off or difable any 
limb or member, of another perfon, with intention in fo 
doing to maim or disfigure him, it is felony without be¬ 
nefit of clergy in fuch offender, his counfellors, aiders, 
and abettors; and, when the cafe is difficult to judge whe¬ 
ther it be a mayhem, or not, the judges commonly view 
the party wounded, and fometimes take the opinion of 
the furgeons. 2 Roll. Abr. 578. By analogy to this, in an 
aftion of trefpafs for mayhem, the court (upon view of 
fuch nhem as the plaintiff has laid in his declaration, 
or whicm is certified by the judges who tried the caufe to 
be the fame as was given in evidence to the jury) may 
increafe the damages at their own difcretion. 1 Sid. 108. 
A perfon who maims himfelf for the purpofe of beg¬ 
ging, and alfo a perfon who difables himfelf that he may 
not be impreffed for a foldier, may be indicted and fined. 
The offence of wilfully and malicioufly fhooting at any 
perfon, which may endanger either killing or maiming 
him, though no l'uch evil confequence enfue, is made 
felony without benefit of clergy, by 9 Geo. I. c. 22. 
A horrible praftice having oflate years prevailed among 
pickpockets and others, of lacerating thole who were the 
objefts of depredation or refentment, and the laws being 
found inadequate to reach and efficiently correft the evil, 
the legiflature interfered; and, by the 43 Geo. III. c. 58. 
(commonly called Lord Ellenborough’s Aft,) which re¬ 
cites, that divers cruel and barbarous outrages had been 
of late wickedly and wantonly committed upon the per- 
fons of his majefty’s fubjefts, either with intent to mur¬ 
der, to rob, or to maim, disfigure or difable, or to do other 
grievous bodily harm to, fuch fubjefts, and that the pro- 
vifions by law made for the prevention of fuch offences 
had been found ineffeftual for that purpofe; it is enafted, 
that, it any perfon or perfons (hall, wilfully, malicioufly, 
and unlawfully, ltab or cut any of his majelty’s fubjefts, 
with intent in fo doing, or by means thereof, to murder 
or to rob, or to maim, disfigure, or dilable, fuch fubjeft 
or fubjefts, or with intent to do l’ome other grievous bo¬ 
dily harm, or to obltruft, refill:, or prevent, the lawful ap- 
prehenfion and detainer of the perlon or perfons fo dab¬ 
bing or cutting, or of any of his, her, or their, accom¬ 
plices, for any offences for which he, ffie, or they, may re- 
fpeftively be liable by law to be apprehended, imprifoned, 
or detained ; filch perfons fo offending, their counfellors, 
aiders, and abettors, knowing of or privy to fuch offence, 
(hall be felons, and fuffer death without benefit of clergy. 
Provided that, if it appear on the trial, that fuch afts of 
dabbing or cutting were committed under fuch circum¬ 
stances as that, it death had enfued therefrom, the fame 
would not have amounted to murder, in fuch cafes, the 
perfon or perfons fo indifted (hall be deamed not guilty 
of the felonies whereof they (hall be fo indifted, but be 
thereof acquitted. 
If the maim come not within any of the defcriptions 
in either of thefe afts, yet it is indictable at the common 
law, and may be punifhed by fine and impriionment; or 
•an appeal may be brought for it at the common law, in 
which the party injured (hall recover his damages ; or he 
may bring an aftion of trelpals, which kind of action 
hath now generally fucceeded to the place of appeals in 
fmaller offences not capital. 2 Hawk, c 23. 
Malicious maiming of cattle in the night-time incurs a 
forfeiture of treble damages, by aftion of trefpafs, or upon 
he cafe. 22 & 23 Car. II, c. 7. 
MAIHER'GA, a town of Africa, in Sahara ; one hun¬ 
dred miles,fouth-lbutli-ealt of Algiers, 
M A 1 15 j 
MA'JIR, a town of Africa, in Biledulgerid: 130 miles 
miles north-ealt of Beni Mezzab. Lat. 33. 30. N. Ion. 
6. 29. E. 
MAIL, f. [ mail/e , Fr. maglia, Ital. from maille, the inefii 
of a net. Skinner ] A coat o( (feel network worn for de¬ 
fence.—Being adviled to " ear a privy coat, the duke gave 
this anfwer, That again It any popular fury a (hilt ot mail 
would be but a filly defence. JVotton. — Any armour.—We 
(trip the lobfter of his fcarlet mail. Gay. 
Some wore coat-arinour,imitating fcale, 
And next their (kin were (tubborn (hirts of mail-. 
Some wore a breaft-plate. Dryden's Knight's Tale. 
[From male, malette, Fr.] A bag of letters; a poftman’s 
bundle. The coach that carries the letters. 
Mail is a very old word for the melhes or holes in net¬ 
work. In heraldry alfo it originally expreffed the mefli 
of a net, from macula, Lat. or mo-fcle, Fr. fignifying the 
fame. Richlet fays, mailler is ufed as a verb neuter, to 
exprefs the art of netting. Some derive it from the Iriffit 
word mala, faid to fignify armour; or the word mail, which 
in Welfh properly means fteel, and metaphorically hard- 
nefs and armour. Boyer in his French Diftionary trans¬ 
lates the word maille, a little iron ring. 
MAIL (Coat of.) See Armour, vol. ii. 
Mail, or Maill, on (bip-board, a fquare machine com- 
pofed of a number of rings interwoven net-wife, and ufed 
for rubbing off the loofe hemp which remains on lines or 
white cordage after it is made. 
Mail, or Maille, in our old writers, a fmall kind of 
money. Silver halfpence were likewife termed mailles, 
9 Henry. V. By indenture in the mint, a pound weight 
of old (terling filver was to be coined into 360 fterlings°or 
pennies, or 720 mails or half-pennies, or 1440 farthings. 
Hence the word mail was derived, which is now vulgarly 
ufed in Scotland to fignify an annual rent. White mail 
were rents made in filver ; and black mail denoted pro¬ 
perly rents paid in cattle, otherwife called neat-gelt ; but 
more largely it was ufed to fignify all rents not paid in 
filver. See Black Mail, vol. iii. p. 79. 
MAIL, or Mall, alfo lignifies a round ring of iron ; 
whence the play of pall-mall, from palla “ a ball,” and 
maille “ the round ring through which it is to pafs.” 
MAIL is likewife ufed for the leather bag wherein let¬ 
ters are carried by the pod:; and by contraction for the 
cart or coach in which they are conveyed. 
Mail-Coach, a carriage particularly and exprefsly ap¬ 
propriated for the conveyance of letters to all parts of 
Great Britain. It is diltinguifiied for its expedition and 
fecuriry ; two moft important conliderations in a populous, 
commercial, and wealthy, country. Previous to the year 
1784, letters were conveyed from the metropolis to dilfant 
parts of the kingdom, and vice verja, by carts with a An¬ 
gle horfe to each, or by boys on horfeback ; in confe¬ 
quence of which, many robberies were commitied, delays 
occafioned, and Ioffes fuftained. Mr. John Palmer, af¬ 
terwards comptroller-general of the polt-office, devifed a 
new plan, which he recommended to government, as cal¬ 
culated to increaie the revenue, accommodate the public, 
and be highly advantageous to ali parties. His propolal 
was acceded to, and the inventor Was rewarded with a 
large annual income, and a per-centage upon the profits 
accruing from his invention. His plan was to provide a 
certain number of coaches, of light conltruftion, and each 
to be adapted to carry the various bags or packers of let¬ 
ters, which were deltined fora particular part of the coun¬ 
try, or lin? of road. All the coaches were to leave Lon¬ 
don precifely at eight o’clock in the evening, and to ar¬ 
rive at and leave certain poll-towns at (pecific times. 
Each coach is drawn by four horfes, travels at the rate of 
eight miles an-hour, including the time allowed for change 
of horfes, &c. and each coach is provided with a coach, 
man, and a guard with fire-arms; and is allowed to carry 
paflengers infide, and two outlide. The prefent fare is 
•about lixpeuee per mile for each of the former paflengers, 
t andL? 
