tempted man. This systematic character of the abandoned prevents the term from being applied to solitary

acts:

"Nor let her tempt that deep, nor make the shore

Where our abandoned youth she sees Shipwrecked in luxury, and lost in ease.” Prior.

REPROBATE (Lat. reprobatus, tried and rejected) expresses that character in which a course of self-abandonment to vice results; one cast away without hope of recovery, the very desire and recognition of good being lost; all repentance cast off, the bitter becoming sweet and the light darkness, by a confirmed blunting of the moral perception. This state the abandoned has not of necessity

reached:

"Reprobate silver shall men call them because the Lord hath rejected them."-Bible.

The PROFLIGATE man (Lat. profligare, to dash away or down) is he who has thrown away, and becomes more and more ready to throw away, all that the good and wise desire to retain as principle, honour, virtue, possessions. Hence it follows that the very poor or obscure man, though he might be abandoned, and even reprobate, could not be profligate. For profligacy is a characteristic vice of the great, the powerful, and the rich. We speak of a profligate monarch, nobleman, court, ministry, aristocracy; of a corrupt or demoralized, but not profligate peasantry. Profligacy is characterized by shamelessness and defiant disregard of morals. The old physical use of the term has disappeared, as in Bishop Hall's Letter to the Pope:

"Is it for thee to excite Christian princes, already too much gorged with blood, to the profligation and fearful slaughter of their own subjects ?"

The modern use of it appears in the following:

"Hitherto it has been thought the highest pitch of profligacy to own, instead of concealing, crimes, and to take pride in them, instead of being ashamed of them.”—Polingbroke.

The UNPRINCIPLED man is not

ABANDONED.

necessarily abandoned or profligate. He may be, in matters of sensual indulgence, abstemious, and in matters of expenditure even penurious. But as the abandoned man sins against sobriety and self-control, so the unprincipled man against justice and integrity. The abandoned man injures himself primarily, and others only indirectly; the unprincipled man is ready to erect his own interests on the ruins of the interests of others. The term unprincipled has a twofold meaning, first, wanting in good principle, or marked by an absence of it; in which sense it is applicable to acts, plans, or proceedings, as well as to persons; and secondly, not acting on good principle, or the acting on its contrary, towards others, in which it is applicable to persons only. The first employment appears in the following, for the word is not of ancient standing in the language:

"Others betake themselves to State affairs with souls so unprincipled in virtue and true generous breeding, that flattery, and courtships, and tyrannous aphorisms appear to them the highest points of wisdom."-Milton. The second in the following:

"Whilst the monarchies subsisted, this unprincipled cession was what the influence of the elder branch of the House of Bourbon never dared to attempt on the younger."Burke.

con

DEPRAVED is a term which points to external circumstances, or tinued practices, which have gradually perverted the nature (pravus, bad, distorted, crooked). Depravity is perversion of the standard of right; and the term is employed not only of morals but of manners, taste, and the arts, and even of depraved humours of the body, which phrase illustrates the radical meaning of the term, as corruptly departing from the state of wholesome function.

"When reason and understanding are depraved, and as far corrupted as the very passions of the heart-when then the blind leads the blind-what else can we expect, but that both fall into the ditch ?"-Sherlock.

By the constant keeping of evil company a man's taste and character will of recessity become depraved. There is danger that he may become un

principled in his dealings; that he may abandon himself to allurements and temptations; that he may go on to exhibit an open profligacy of conduct; and finally sink into the condition of a reprobate, whom conscience ceases to encourage or to warn.

DEGRADE.

ABASE. HUMBLE. DISGRACE. DEBASE. HUMILIATE. DISHONOUR.

There was a time when the word ABASE (Fr. abaisser, bas, low) was used in a purely physical sense, as by Shakespeare:

"And will she yet abase her eyes on me?" To abase is, now, to bring low, or lower, in such a way as that the person lowered shall be deeply conscious of the lowering. But this is not of necessity on account of heinous guilt or conduct disgraceful. That of which the person abased is primarily conscious is unworthiness in reference to the estimation of others or his own. It may even be meritorious to abase or humble oneself. (Of these two abase is the stronger term.) This never could be said of degrade or disgrace. The penitent man humbles himself, the contrite man abases himself. In either case a conquest is gained over pride, or arrogance, or self-will.

"He that exalteth himself shall be abased, and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted."-Bible.

TO HUMBLE (Lat. humilis, humble, humus, the ground, connected with the Greek xauai, on the ground); commonly bears reference to some former condition of exaltation or estimate of self, as the proud man may be humbled by reverses of fortune. When a man is so humbled that his state becomes externally manifest, or is reflected in the condition and circumstances of the person humbled, he may further be said to be humiliated, that is, brought both to a sense and a condition of humility. So strong a part does this external element play in the word, that one who is only self-conceited may be humiliated by being thrown suddenly into an undignified and ludicrous

.ABASE.

position. The proud man is humbled, the conceited humiliated. The case is a little different with the noun humiliation, which is sometimes employed as an independent noun instead of employing as a noun the participle humbling. In the phrase "a day of fasting and humiliation," the term conveys the idea of external selfhumbling.

TO DISGRACE is to deprive of respect (Lat. gratia, favour). He who disgraces himself deprives himself of the respect of others. Disgrace is to the feeling of respect what dishonour is to its outward tokens. Hence disgrace is rather in a man's self, dishonour depends rather on others; so that while conscience may excite in us a feeling of disgrace, we can have none of dishonour except it be inflicted upon us by others. Yet in the term disgrace there seems to be a blending of the two ideas of the Latin gratia and the English grace, namely, internal comeliness and external favour. The minister who is capriciously dismissed by his sovereign is said to be disgraced. Yet it is plain that he is so in no other sense than as being merely thrown out of favour, while, as regards his own character, he is rather dishonoured than disgraced. The general who is taken captive after a gallant resistance never could be disgraced, though he might by an ungenerous victor be dishonoured or insulted.

"It was not meet for us to see the king's dishonour."-Bible.

We have exemplifications in the two following of the twofold idea of grace, from which the double aspect of disgrace flows:

"And with sharp quips joy'd others to deface,

Thinking that their disgracing did him grace. Spenser.

"He that walketh uprightly is secure as to his honour and credit; he is sure not to come off disgracefully either at home, in his own apprehensions, or abroad, in the estimations of men."-Barrow.

DEGRADE bears reference to some standard or level, moral or social, beneath which the person degraded, or who degrades himself, is supposed

to have fallen (de, down, and gradus, a step); nor is the term confined to persons. In this point it differs from disgrace, which is applicable to persons, and not to things. So we might say:

"Art is degraded when it is only regarded as a trade."

"The lifting of a man's self up in his own opinion has had the credit in former ages to be thought the lowest degradation that human nature could well sink itself to."Locke.

TO DEBASE is to deteriorate or make base the intrinsic nature in regard to worth, dignity, or purity, and is only employed of material value in the case of coin.

"The coin which was adulterated and debased in the times and troubles of Stephen." -Hale.

"Even reason itself, which, if we have any original faculties, is surely one of them, is subject to the same law of habit, as the means of improvement or of debasement."-Beattie.

ABASH. CONFOUND.

CONFUSE.

To be ABASHED (Old Fr. esbahir, connected with the English bay, to gape or stand at bay as a wild beast) is to be under the influence of shame, and therefore will vary according to the degree and character of the shame felt. The over-modest are abashed in the presence of superiors, the guilty at the detection of vice or misconduct. Abase stands to the reason and the judgment as abash stands to the feelings. The former implies a sentence of unworthiness passed against oneself, the latter shows itself in the downward look, the blushing cheek, or the confused manner, and may even be the pure effect of natural modesty.

"But when he Venus viewed without disguise,

Her shining neck beheld and radiant eyes,
Awed and abashed, he turned his head aside,
Attempting with his robe his face to hide."
Congreve.

To be CONFUSED (Lat. confundere, confusus, to pour together, or confound) denotes a state in which the faculties get more or less beyond control, when the speech falters, and thoughts lose their consistency,

though practical power is to a certain degree retained.

"Confused and sadly she at length replied." Pope.

To be CONFOUNDED, though another form of the same verb, is a far stronger word, denoting an utter inability to exercise, to any practical purpose, the powers of thought and speech; the reason being overpowered by the shock of argument, or testimony, or detection. To confuse is in itself a milder term than confound. Things are confused when they are in a state of promiscuous disorder. They are confounded when their very iden tity is lost, and they are undistinguished or indistinguishable from one another.

"So spake the Son of God, and Satan stood Awhile as mute, confounded what to say."

Milton. DIMINISH.

Of these the simplest and most widely applicable, and therefore the least specifically characteristic is LESSEN (A. S. lässa, masc., lasse, fem., less), meaning, to make, or to grow, less, as in force, bulk, number, quantity, or value.

"St. Paul chose to magnify his office when all men conspired to lessen it."-Atterbury.

DIMINISH (Lat. diminuere, minus, less) is the exact Latin equivalent of the Saxon lessen, but is commonly substituted for lessen in the intransitive sense. The receding object diminishes rather than lessens.

"I will diminish them that they shall no more rule over the nations."-Bible.

A

ABATE (Fr. abattre, to beat down) refers to force only, the idea of which is always latent if not explicit. storm, pain, mental emotion or excitement, the vigour of youth, abates. Of old the word had a strong active force in a physical application; as to abate, that is, beat down, the walls of a castle. This active force is still preserved, but not in its physical application. The term has grown milder. We speak of abating pride, zeal, expectation, hope, ardour, a demand or claim, and, in legal lan

guage, of abating a writ, a nuisance, or a tax. The word is employed with singular force in the following passage from Paley's "Moral Philosophy":—

"The greatest tyrants have been those whose titles were the most unquestioned. Whenever the opinion of right becomes too predominant and superstitious, it is abated by breaking the custom."

DECREASE (Lat. de, down, and crescere, to grow) differs from diminish in denoting a more sustained and gradual process. We might speak of an instantaneous diminution, but hardly of an instantaneous decrease. To decrease is gradually to lessen or diminish. Yet we use the term decrease in some cases to express more strongly the idea of diminution by inherent force, or from an internal cause, as distinguished from external and more palpable influences, at least when speaking of physical matter or objects; as the cold decreases through the spring of the year. Property is diminished by extravagance. To decrease is relative; to diminish is absolute or positive. It is more commonly applied to size and quantity, diminish to number.

"He must increase, I must decrease.”— Bible.

ABDICATE. See RESIGN. ABERRANT, ABNORMAL. EcCENTRIC. EXCEPTIONAL. ERRATIC.

ABERRANT (Lat. aberrare, to wander away) denotes that which has unaccountably deviated from the uniform mode or law of operation and production. ABNORMAL (ab, and norma, a rule), that which exhibits a type or form dissimilar to the ordinary. ECCENTRIC (ex and centrum, a centre; Gr. κέντρον, from κεντέω, to prick, the point round which the circle is described) denotes that which is a departure (or analogous to it) from movement in a natural orbit. EXCEPTIONAL (Lat. excipere, exceptus, to except) is applied generally to any

ABETTOR.

thing which strikes common observation as unlike what it is familiar with in similar cases. Of these the two first are terms adopted by modern physical science, to the types and productions of which they apply. Eccentric and exceptional are applicable to other matters. The former term was astronomical before it became moral or descriptive. An eccentric body is one which moves in a circle which, though coinciding in whole or in part with another in area or volume, has not the same centre; hence deviating from ordinary methods, or usual appearance or prac tice; irregular, odd. It is opposed to concentric. The primary and secondary ideas appear combined in the following:

"For had I power like that which bends the spheres

To music never heard by mortal ears,
Where in her system sits the central sun
And drags reluctant planets into tune,
So would I bridle thy eccentric soul,
In reason's sober orbit bid it roll."

Whitehead on Churchill.

EXCEPTIONAL is taken from the French exceptionnel, and not found in the older English literature.

ERRATIC (errare, to wander) differs slightly from eccentric when spoken of human conduct, to which it is confined (while eccentric may be employed of the personal appearance), in denoting want of moral self-control, which shows itself in the sudden doing of eccentric things. The eccentric character is inoffensive and

simply odd; there is danger that the erratic person may involve himself or others in mischief. This force has been acquired in recent times.

"The season of the year is now come in which the theatres are shut and the cardtables forsaken, the regions of luxury are for awhile unpeopled, and pleasure leads out her votaries to groves and gardens, to still scenes and erratic gratifications."-Rambler.

ABERRATION. See MADNESS.
ABETTOR. ACCESSARY. Ac-

COMPLICE.

An ABETTOR (probably having for its root the sound bet, an old cry, in

hounding dogs on to game) is one who in any way promotes the execu tion of a scheme without taking a direct part in it. If he do so, he becomes, according to circumstances, something more than an abettor. He is an ACCESSARY (Lat. accessarius, accedere, to approach, join oneself to) if he assists directly, but in an extraneous capacity. An AccoMPLICE (ad and complicare, to fold together), if he is intimately bound up in the project and responsibility of the scheme as a prime mover. It is in this way that in treason there are no abettors, the law not allowing the supposition of indirect agency in the case, but regarding it as necessarily direct. Advice, promises, rewards, or even the observance of silence, and a forbearing to oppose, may constitute an abettor; but no one can be negatively an accessary or accomplice. Generally speaking, it may be said that abettors urge and promote; accessaries aid or assist; plices design and execute. In law, an " accessary before the fact is one who procures, counsels, or commands another to commit a

accom

felony. An "accessary after the fact is one who, knowing of the felony, assists, comforts, or conceals the felon. It deserves to be remarked that these terms are by usage almost universally restricted to bad or unlawful deeds and causes, although Woolaston, in his Religion of Nature,' speaks of "abetting the cause of truth."

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The older use of Shakespeare is still the common one :

"And you that do abet him in this kind Cherish rebellion, and are rebels all."

"An accessory is he who is not the chief actor in the offence, nor present at its performance, but in some way concerned therein, either before or after the fact committed."Blackstone.

Dryden, in the following passage, uses the term in the sense of a partner in guilt:

"Link'd hand in hand the accomplice and the dame

Their way exploring to the chamber came." The ordinary use is that of Johnson in the following:

ABHOR.

Of these the plainest is LOATHE (A. S. lâdhian, to hate), which is also the most purely physical, being in the first place employed to express nausea or physical disgust. The sick man loathes his food. When employed of moral objects, it is so by a strong metaphor or analogy :

"A wicked man is loathsome, and cometh to shame. The word translated loathsome properly denotes such kind of persons to be as nauseous and offensive to the judgments of others as the most loathsome unsavoury things are to their tastes and smells."Bishop Wilkins.

TO ABOMINATE (Lat. abominor, abominatus, ab, from, and omen) is literally to discard or protest against, as ominous or foul; a close association existing between the physically foul Abominate and the morally evil. occupies a place midway between loathe, which is strongly physical, and detest, which, as we shall see, is emphatically moral; and in either case denotes that kind of strong dislike which would excite protest and avoidance. ABHOR (Lat. abhorrere, to shudder at) differs from abominate in being more expressive of strong involuntary recoil, while abominate is more reflective and voluntary. The person who abominates would destroy, or remove; the person who abhors would shrink from, and avoid.

"That very action for which the swine is abominated and looked upon as an unclean and impure creature, namely, wallowing in the mire, is designed by Nature for a very good end and use, not only to cool his body, but also to suffocate and destroy noisome and importunate insects."-Ray, "Wisdom of God."

"Abhor that which is evil, cleave to that which is good."-Bible.

Where the recoiling of abhorrence is illustrated by its opposite idea, that of voluntary adherence.

DETEST (Lat. detestari, testis, a witness) denotes a purely sponta