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The deluged plains then every ploughman

flies,

And every hind and traveller sheltered lies." HAMILTON'S Virgil.

INUNDATE (Lat. inundare; unda, a wave) implies an horizontal movement of the same body spreading itself laterally. An inundation may result from a deluge. As deluge primarily regards the water which pours or covers, so inundation primarily regards the land which is covered or submerged.

"Nonnus reports in the history of his embassy, that during the period when the Nile inundates Egypt there are very violent storms in the different parts of Ethiopia." -BELOE, Herodotus.

OVERFLOW is an inundation caused by excess of fluid in some specific place or channel. So, "a deluge of rain fell, the river overflowed its banks, and the country far and wide was inundated, so that it remained for some weeks submerged."

applied; as, to demolish the walls of a castle. Demolition is opposed to construction. DESTROY may or may not involve violence, as a noxious vapour or a violent blow might destroy' life; DEMOLISH involves violence. Destruction may be sudden or gradual; demolition is commonly rapid and decisive. DESTROY is equally applicable to things moral and physical, as to destroy hope, beauty, effect. DEMOLISH Could not be so employed, except in the way of formal metaphor. DEMOLISH does not convey so strongly as destroy the idea of hostile operation. The walls of a fortification are destroyed by the enemy's artillery. They may be demolished for the simple purpose of rebuilding and making them stronger.

"O come hither, and behold the works of the Lord, what destructions He hath brought upon the earth."-Bible, 1551.

"On their coming into administration, they found the demolition of Dunkirk entirely at a stand. Instead of demolition they found construction; for the French were then at work on the repairs of the jetties."-BURKE. WALLER.

"Poets that lasting marble seek
Must carve in Latin or in Greek.
We write in sand, our language grows,
And like the tide our work o'erflows."

SUBMERGE (Lat. submergere) denotes that the inundation has entirely drowned the land. It deserves, however, to be remarked that, while the others indicate the specific action of water, SUBMERGE is also applied to cases in which the primary action is not on the part of the water, as, when in a quantity of water a large body is purposely placed so as to be entirely covered, it is said to be submerged. The element overflows and inundates. Man may deluge and submerge.

"Some of our own countrymen have given credit to the submersion of swallows." -PENNANT.

DEMOLISH. DESTROY.

To DESTROY (Lat. destruere) is violently to put an end to anything that existed in life or shape, or even to the life itself. Hence destroy is the generic word. It is to put an end to what we desire no longer to exist.

DEMOLISH (Fr. demolir, Lat. demoliri) is the specific destruction of an organized body or a structural mass. To this latter it is most commonly

DEMUR. HESITATE. SCRUPLE. WAVER. FLUCTUATE. OBJECT.

To HESITATE (Lat. hæsitare, to stick fast) is literally to stick at doing something, whether mentally or practically. It may proceed from a variety or causes; as, prudence, fear, doubt. generosity, cowardice.

"In an age of darkness he (Gregory VII.) had not all the knowledge that was requisite to regulate his zeal; and taking false appearances for solid truths, he without hesitation deduced from them the most dangerous consequences."-JORTIN.

TO DEMUR (Old Fr. demourer, Lat demorari, to retard) is a specific kind of hesitation. It is to suspend action or judgment in view of a doubt or difficulty. When we say, "I demur to that statement of yours," we mean to arrest the argument of the speaker on a point to which we are prepared to make objection.

"A demurrer denies that by the law arising upon these facts, any injury is done to the plaintiff, or that the defendant has made out a legitimate excuse, according to the party which first demurs (demoratur). rests or abides upon the point in question." -BLACKSTONE.

SCRUPLE (Lat. scrupulus, a grit or sharp stone in the path, uneasiness) is a kind of internal demur, that is, when the process of thought or action arrested is not that of another but our own, and this in consequence of a doubt or difficulty suggested either by some other, or by our own minds or feelings. A scruple is dictated by a sense of impropriety, intellectual or moral.

"I scruple not to rest it on reason rather than on passion."-GILPIN'S Sermons.

WAVER (A. S. wafian, connected with wave; as it were, to fluctuate) refers to an antecedent opinion or resolution of our own, which we have As actually formed and distrust.

DEMUR and SCRUPLE are applicable to that which is proposed to be said or done, so WAVER applies to what has been said or done.

FLUCTUATE (Lat. fluctuure, to be in waves; to fluctuate in mind) resembles WAVER in expressing motion and change of mind, but differs from it in implying more than one point. We waver upon one consideration. We fluctuate between two or more, which we are inclined to adopt successively. WAVER is only applied to matters of intellectual decision, but FLUCTUATE to states of feeling. We fluctuate not only between one opinion and another, but between joy and sorrow, gladness and depression, hope and despair, and the like.

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"Liberty of will is like the motion of a magnetic needle toward the north full of trembling and uncertainty till it were fixed in the beloved point. It wavers as long as it is free, and is at rest when it can choose no more."-BISHOP TAYLOR.

"Teach me how I came by such an opinion of worth and virtue; what it is which at one time raises it so high, and at another time reduces it to nothing; how these disturbances and fluctuations happen."-SHAFTESBURY.

OBJECT (Lat. objicere, part. objectus, to cast against) is to offer in opposition. We object to what we believe erroneous, unjust, undesirable, and in 30me cases to what is personally displeasing to ourselves. The verb is often used intransitively and followed by to; but in such cases something is

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'Abnegation of God, of His honour, of His religion."-KNOX.

DEPENDENCE.

AFFIANCE.

RELIANCE.

DEPENDENCE (Lat. dependere, to hang from, to depend upon) expresses a fact, RELIANCE (prob. Fr. se relier, to be attached to, Lat. religare) expresses our consciousness or feeling of that fact. Dependence is conditioned existence, à result contingent upon a cause. Reliance is trust upon a living will. The child depends upon his parent for all that he requires; but it is not till he has grown to be conscious of his own dependence in this way that he can rely upon his parent's willingness to grant him what he needs.

AFFIANCE (O. Fr. afiance, L. Lat. fidantia, a pledge) is characteristic of religious feeling.

"The absolute stoical depender upon fate may starve for want of industry, die for want of physic, and be damned for want of repentance."-HAMMOND.

The Saviour effecting everything by His power is represented under the image of a great champion in the field, who is prompted by his own courage, and a reliance on his own strength and skill, to attempt what might seem impracticable."BISHOP HORSLEY.

"That she (the Queen) may evermore have affiance in Thee and ever seek Th, honour and glory."-Eng. Liturgy.

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DEPRAVITY and DEPRAVATION (Lat. deprāvāre, to prevent, vitiate) stand to each other as the process and the result; DEPRAVITY is the state of being depraved, DEPRAVATION the action of making depraved, or the state of having been made so.

There is in

human nature, we believe, an inborn depravity. This is made far worse where defective education and evil company have tended to the worse depravation of the individual. The same twofold meaning belongs to CORRUPTION (Lat. corruptionem)

which expresses both the state of being, and the process of making Corrupt. Differences must be noted between DEPRAVITY and CORRUPTION. These may be illustrated by the difference between a depraved person and a corrupt person. The depraved man has been brought to a certain condition of evil practice; the corrupt man to a certain condition of evil principle. CORRUPTION relates to the source of action, DEPRAVITY to the actions themselves. A corrupt judge is not a person of depravity of character necessarily in any other way than that of the principle of integrity, which is wanting or has been destroyed in him. Or, again, a person may have a corrupt taste in art or literature without being a person of corrupt life. This shows corruption to be a specific badness or depravity of principle, while depravity is general, and affects the entire character. When we speak of a person of depraved taste, we, of course, confine the asBertion to the matter of taste, without saying anything of the moral chaA corrupt taste and a depraved taste would be practically the ame; but in the former case we take account of the want of true principle to decide, in the latter of the influence of bad training to pervert. Corrupt taste would rather belong to the artist, depraved taste to the spec

racter.

tator.

"If refinement does not lead directly to purity of manners, it obviates at least their greatest depravation."-REYNOLDS.

"A mad and desperate depravity.”— SHAFTESBURY.

"As though all the false religion that ever was among the heathen was not a corrupting and depravation of the true religion of God."-CALVIN.

DEPTH. PROFUNDITY.

These words supply a good illus tration of a large class of synonyms, and of the general difference of character between words of Saxon and words of classic formation to express the same thing. DEPTH (A. S. deop, deep) expresses no more than the physical property of perpendicular measurement downward from a surface; or, metaphorically, what is like this, as depth of mind, or thought, or meaning, which is such as has the properties of natural depth; not lying en the surface; more or less difficult to reach; more or less dark when reached; not meeting the eye of those who regard only the surface of things, and the like; but PROFUNDITY (Lat. profunditātem) expresses the abstract idea of depth, or the scientific measurement of it. It is the same thing under a more refined, abstract, and scientific view Words of the former class are physical and metaphorical, of the latter scientific and metaphysical.

"A dreadful depth, how deep no man can tell." SPENSER.

"In one (Ben Jonson) we may respect the profundity of learning, in the other (Shakespeare) we must admire the sublimity of genius."-Observer.

DERANGE. DISORDER.

DERANGE (Fr. déranger, rang, rank or order) and DISORDER (Fr. désordre, Lat. ordinem, rank, order) are SO much alike that they may often be used interchangeably, as a mass of papers may be disordered or deranged. But from other illustrations it would be seen that DERANGE is commonly applied to matters of mental or internal, DISORDER to matters of physical or external, arrangement. It is only an extension of this to say that disorder bears reference to the fact, derangement to the intention, of order. A defeat of a general will, at the same time that it throws his army into disorder, derange more or less his own plans. This distinction is not destroyed by the fact that things of tne mind are often viewed metaphori

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cally, that is, after the analogy of things of sense. Thus, a disordered imagination" is one in which the faculties, as in a machine, have lost their just disposition, after the analogy of such disturbance of the bodily functions as accompanies or creates disease.

"Whether this folly (expensiveness of dress) may not produce many other follies, an entire derangement of domestic life, absurd manners, neglect of duties, bad mothers, a general corruption of both sexes."-BERKELEY.

"In wildest numbers and disordered verse." LYTTELTON.

DERIVE. TRACE. DEDUCE. Of these, TRACE (Fr. tracer) is generic, meaning to draw a line (L. Lat. tractiare), or to prosecute a given line, whether materially or mentally, as to trace a river from its source to its mouth, or from its mouth to its source, to trace a line of march.

DERIVE (Lat. derivare, to lead away water, rivus) and DEDUCE (Lat. deducere, to lead down or away) indicate a tracing in one direction, that is, from the source or origin downwards. To derive is to trace, and so to refer to the physical cause; to deduce is to trace, and so refer to the logical cause or reason. A river derives its waters from a certain source; a word is derived from a certain grammatical root; a nation derives its origin from one or more historic causes, as a victory, a migration, and the like. We deduce inferences from statements, and conclusions from premises.

"But this kind of writing, which seems to be reformed, which is, that writing should be consonant to speaking, is a branch of unprofitable subtleties; for pronunciation itself every day increases and alters the fashion; and the derivation of words, especially from foreign languages, are utterly defaced and extinguished."-BACON, Advancement of Learning.

"From the words of Moses cited by our Saviour, the doctrine of a future state may as clearly be deduced as from any single text which can be produced out of any one of the prophets."-JORTIN.

"In this chart I have laid down no land nor traced out any shore but what I saw myself."-COOK's Voyages.

DEROGATE. DETRACT.

These words are in meaning very closely allied, and may in many cases

be used indifferently; but DEROGATION refers to intrinsic goodness, DETRACTION (Lat. detractionem, a taking away) to the estimation in which a thing is held. Etymologically considered, DEROGATE (Lat. derogare, to repeal part of a law) is a term of legislation. Derogation is partial and indirect abrogation. When a subsequent law lessens the force and application of an older law, the character of the former is technically said to be derogatory. Derogation takes place when a thing that is estimable suffers deterioration; detraction when a thing that is esteemed, or is capable of being esteemed, is lessened or cheapened in the estimation of others. Hence DEROGATE belongs to the influence of circumstances, while DETRACTION is exclusively the act of persons. For instance, we might say,

His warmth of temper derogates much from a character otherwise worthy of high respect;" or, again, "The speaker, in speaking of such an one, detracted much from his reputation by ascribing to him ill-temper, and other such derogatory qualities.

"I hope it is no derogation to the Christian religion to say that the fundamentals of it, that is, all that is necessary to be believed in it by all men, is easy to be understood by all men."-LOCKE.

"I know it has been the fashion to detract both from the moral and literary character of Cicero ; and indeed neither his life nor his writings are without the characteristics of humanity."-KNOX.

DESCRIBE. DEPICT. CHARAC

TERIZE.

DESCRIBE (Lat. describere) is to write down an account, hence to give an account, whether in writing or spoken words. True description is the giving in words of an account analogous to that of ocular representation; only DESCRIBE goes further, and gives a representation of complex objects or moral events, as well as visible forms or transactions; as, to describe the circumstances under which such an event took place. Description belongs to the external manifestations of things, and ought to be full and clear, that is, it should enumerate all particulars, and represent them accurately and vivid v.

"How shall frail pen describe her heavenly face,

For fear, through want of skill, her beauty to disgrace!" SPENSER.

DEPICT (Lat. depingere, part. depictus, to portray, describe) refers to the vivid description of anything which may be brought with more or less distinctness before the mind's eye. Both DESCRIBE and DEPICT involve the representation of every detail connected with the subject described or depicted.

"An idea of figure depicted on the choroides or retina of the eye."-Anecdotes of Bishop Watson.

CHARACTERIZE (Gr. χαρακτήρ, απ impression) is employed in moral description of what represents the subject by its leading feature or features. Hence a whole course of conduct, or a whole class of character in men, may be said to be characterized by some one strong and distinctive epithet, for instance, which, without delineating in detail, sets a peculiar mark and stamp upon it.

"Richard Martin was worthily characterized by the virtuous and learned men of his time to be princeps amorum." 1."-WOOD, Athena Oxon.

DESCRY. ESPY. DISCOVER. DETECT. DISCERN. DISTINGUISH.

TO DESCRY (O. Fr. decrire, Lat. describere, to describe) is to discover by the eye objects difficult of discernment by reason of distance or dimness. When the difficulty arises from other causes, as confusion among a number of similar objects, partial concealment, or the like, we employ ESPY (O. Fr. espier). AS DESCRY denotes discriminative penetration of the nodily vision, so ESPY implies acuteness of vision or observation.

DISCOVER (O. Fr. descouvrir) points to the bringing to light of what was concealed or unknown. This may be either accidental or the result of specific research.

To DETECT (Lat. detegere, part. detectus, to uncover) is to remove what concealed from one's view, and had been in most cases purposely so placed; as to detect a criminal or a crime. Such

a purpose of concealment, however, is not essential to the term, as we speak of detecting an error in a calculation, or a fallacy in an argument; only what is detected is never a matter of merit, but always an error, fault, or crime.

DISCERN (Lat. discernere, to separate, to settle) is to perceive with the inherent power of the faculty of bodily or mental identification, while DESCR is always physical. From this power of exact vision comes the faculty of seeing differences in objects; and this identification of an object by setting aside its differences, or other objects which differ from it, is discernment, whether in the physical or intellectual

sense.

DISTINGUISH (Lat. distinguère, to prick off) physically implies not only an acquaintance with the object, but a sufficient distinctness to enable the observer to recognize its specific features and characteristics, and so to avoid confusion with other objects. The moral application is analogous to this. When the next step is taken. and, on the ground of this accurate perception, the object is parted off from other objects-this is discernment. The one sees clearly, the other sees separatively.

"The first descrieing of the enemy's approach."-HOLINSHED.

"Secure, unnoted Conrad's prow passed by,

And anchored where his ambush meant to lie,

Screened from espial by the jutting cape That rears on high its rude fantastic BYRON. shape."

"The distinction of a first discoverer made us cheerfully encounter every danger, and submit to every inconvenience."Cook's Voyages.

"The Romans were plagued with a set of public officers belonging to the emperor's court called Curiosi and Imperatoris oculi, part of whose employment was to go about as detectors of frauds and misdemeanours." -JORTIN.

"A discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart."- Bible.

"No more can you distinguish of a man Than of his outward show."

DESIGN. MEAN.

SHAKESPEARE.

PURPOSE. INTEND

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