opposition, they had no pretensions to be distinguished for capacity. That peculiar talent which they both employed for the greater part of their lives in scanning and censuring the measures of ministers is very distinct from that power which is requisite to guide the helm of a state. A vivid imagination, a retentive memory, an exuberant flow of language, are abilities which may be successfully employed in attracting popular applause, but that capacity which embraces a question in all its bearings, which surveys with a discriminating eye the mixed multitude of objects that demand attention; which is accompanied with coolness in reflecting, readiness in combining, quickness in inventing, firmness in deciding, promptitude in action, and penetration in discerning, that is the capacity to direct a state, which is the gift of but few. Among this number we have no reason to reckon either Mr. Fox or Mr. Burke; while on the other hand their great rival Mr. Pitt, in the most arduous and trying situation, gave decisive proofs that he was an able minister with a capacious mind. Mr. Fox therefore had ability; Mr. Pitt had capacity. Though a man has not the abilities to distinguish himself in the most shining parts of a great character, he has certainly the capacity of being just, faithful, modest, and temperate. ADDISON I look upon an able statesman out of business like a huge whale, that will endeavour to overturn the ship unless he has an empty cask to play with. STEELE. The object is too big for our capacity, when we would comprehend the circumference of a world. ADDISON, Sir Francis Bacon's capacity seemed to have grasped all that was revealed in books before. HUGHES. ABILITY, v. Dexterity. ABJECT, v. Low. TO ABJURE, RECANT, RETRACT, REVOKE, RECALL. ABJURE, in Latin abjuro, is compounded of the privative ab and juro to swear, signifying to swear to the contrary or give up with an oath. RECANT, in Latin recanto, is compounded of the privative re and canto to sing or declare, signifying to unsay, to contradict by a counter declaration. RETRACT, in Latin retractus, participle of retraho, is compounded of re back and traho to draw, signifying to draw back what has been let go. REVOKE and RECALL have the same original sense as recant, with this difference only, that the word call, which is expressed also by voke, or in Latin voco, implies an action more suited to a multitude than the word canto to sing, which may pass in solitude. We abjure a religion, we recant a doctrine, we retract a promise, we revoke a command, we recall an expression. What has been solemnly professed is renounced by abjuration; what has been publicly maintained as a settled point of belief is given up by recanting; what has been pledged so as to gain credit is contradicted by retracting; what has been pronounced by an act of authority is rendered null by revocation; what has been mis-spoken through inadvertence or mistake is rectified by recalling the words. Although Archbishop Cranmer recanted the principles of the reformation, yet he soon after recalled his words, and died boldly for his faith. Henry the IVth of France abjured Calvinism, but he did not retract the promise which he had made to the Calvinists of his protection. Louis the XIVth drove many of his best subjects from France by revoking the edict of Nantes. Interest but too often leads men to abjure their faith; the fear of shame or punishment leads them to recant their opinions; the want of principle dictates the retracting of one's promise; instability is the ordinary cause for revoking decrees; a love of precision commonly induces a speaker or writer to recall a false expression. The pontiff saw Britannia's golden fleece, Once all his own, invest her worthier sons! Her verdant valleys, and her fertile plains, Yellow with grain, abjure his hateful sway. SHENSTONE. A false satire ought to be recanted for the sake of him whose reputation may be injured. JOHNSON. When any scholar will convince me that these were futile and malicious tales against Socrates, TO ABOLISH, DRYDEN. ABROGATE, REPEAL, REVOKE, ANNUL, CANCEL. ABOLISH, in French abolir, Latin aboleo, is compounded of ab and oleo to lose the smell, signifying to lose every trace of former existence. ABROGATE, in French abroger, Latin abrogatus, participle of abrogo, compounded of ab and rogo to ask, signifying to ask away, or to ask that a thing may be done away; in allusion to the custom of the Romans among whom no law was valid unless the consent of the people was obtained by asking, and in like manner no law was unmade without asking their consent. REPEAL, in French rappeler, from the Latin words re and appello, signifies literally to call back or unsay what has been said, which is in like manner the original meaning of REVOKE. ANNUL, in French annuller, comes from nulle, in Latin nihil, signifying to reduce to nothing. CANCEL, in French canceller, comes from the Latin cancello to cut Crosswise, signifying to strike out crosswise, that is, to cross out. Abolish is a less sensible and formal process than abrogate or any of the other actions. Disuse abolishes; a positive interference is necessary to abrogate. The former is employed with regard to customs; the latter with regard to the authorised transactions of mankind. Laws are repealed or abrogated; but the former of these terms is mostly in modern use, the latter is applied to the proceedings of the ancients. Edicts are revoked. Official proceedings, contracts, &c. are annulled. Deeds, bonds, obligations, debts, &c. The introduction of new customs A change of taste, aided by political circumstances, has caused the abolition of justs and tournaments and other military sports in Europe. The Roman people sometimes abrogated from party spirit what the magistrates enacted for the good of the republic; would lead the same restless temper many to wish for the repeal of the most salutary acts of our parliament. Caprice, which has often dictated the proclamation of a decree in arbitrary governments, has occasioned its revocation after a short interval. It is sometimes prudent to annul proceedings which have been decided upon hastily. A generous man may be willing to cancel a debt; but a grateful man preserves the debt in his mind, and will never suffer it to be cancelled. Or wilt thou thyself Abolish thy creation, and unmake For him, what for thy glory thou hast made! MILTON On the parliament's part it was proposed that all the bishops, deans, and chapters might be immediately taken away and abolished. CLARENDON, If the Presbyterians should obtain their ends, I could not be sorry to find them mistaken in the point which they have most at heart, by the repeal of the test; I mean the benefit of emSWIFT. ployments. Solon abrogated all Draco's sanguinary laws except those that affected murder. CUMBERLAND, * Vide Taylor: "Abolish, abrogate." THE primitive idea of these terms agreeable to their derivation is that of badness in the highest degree, conveying by themselves the strongest signification, and excluding the necessity for every other modifying epithet. The ABOMINABLE thing excites aversion; the DETESTABLE thing hatred and revulsion; the EXECRABLE thing indignation and horror. These sentiments are expressed against what is abominable by strong ejaculations, against what is detestable by animadversion and reprobation, and against what is execrable by imprecations and anathemas. In the ordinary acceptation of these terms, they serve to mark a degree of excess in a very bad thing; abominable expressing less than detestable, and that less than execrable. This gradation is sufficiently illustrated in the following example. Dionysius, the tyrant, having been informed that a very aged woman prayed to the gods every day for his preservation, and wondering that any of his subjects should be so interested for his safety, inquired of this woman respecting the motives of her conduct, to which she replied, "In my infancy I lived under an abominable prince whose death I desired, but when he perished, he was succeeded by a detestable tyrant worse than himself. I offered up my vows for his death also, which were in like manner answered; but we have since had a worse tyrant than he. This execrable monster is yourself, whose life I have prayed for, lest, if it be possible, you should ABOVE, OVER, UPON, BEYOND. When an object is ABOVE another, it exceeds it in height; when it is OVER another, it extends along its superior surface; when it is UPON another, it comes in contact with its superior surface; when it is BEYOND another, it lies at a greater distance. Trees frequently grow above a wall, and sometimes the branches hang over the wall or rest upon it, but they seldom stretch much beyond it. In the figurative sense the first is mostly employed to convey the idea of superiority; the second of authority; the third of immediate influence, and the fourth of extent. Every one should be above falsehood, but particularly those who are set over others, who may have an influence on their minds beyond all calculation. So when with crackling flames a caldron fries, The geese fly o'er the barn, the bees in arms As I did stand my watch upon the bill A He that sees a dark and shady groveTM Stays not, but looks beyond it on the sky. HERBERT The public power of all societies is above every soul contained in the same societies. HOOKER Vide Abbé Roubaud's Synonymes: "Abominable, detestable, execrable." ABRIDGE, in French abréger, Latin abbreviare, is compounded of the intensive syllable ab and breviare, from brevis short, signifying to make short. CURTAIL, in French courte short and tailler to cut, signifies to diminish in length by cutting. CONTRACT, in Latin contractus, participle of contraho, is compounded of con and traho, signifying to draw close together. By abridging, in the figurative as well as the literal sense, the quality is diminished; by curtailing, the magnitude or number is reduced; by contracting, a thing is brought within smaller compass. Privileges are abridged, pleasures curtailed, and powers contracted. When the rights of the subject are too much abridged, the enjoyments of life become curtailed, as the powers of acting and thinking, according to the genuine impulse of the mind, are thereby considerably contracted. It is ungenerous to abridge the liberty of any one, or curtail him of his advantages, while he makes no improper use of them; otherwise it is adviseable, in order to contract his means of doing mischief. This would very much abridge the lover's pains in this way of writing a letter, as it would enable him to express the most useful and significant words with a single touch of the needle. ADDISON. ABRIDGEMENT, COMPENDIUM, EPITOME, DIGEST, SUMMARY, ABSTRACT. THE four first terms are applied to a distinct work, the two latter to parts of a work. An ABRIDGEMENT is the reduc→ tion of a work into a smaller compass. A COMPENDIUM is a general and concise view of any science, as geography or astronomy. An EPITOME IS a similarly general and concise view of historical events. A DIGEST is any materials digested in order. A SUMMARY comprehends the heads and subdivisions of a work. An ABSTRACT includes a brief but comprehensive view of any particular subject. Abridgements often surpass the originals in value when they are made with judgment. Compendiums are fitted for young persons to commit to memory on commencing the study of any science. There is perhaps not a better epitome than that of the Universal History by Bossuet, nor a better digest than that of the laws. made by order of Justinian. Systematic writers give occasional summaries of what they have been treating upon. It is frequently necessary to make abstracts of judicial proceedings when they are excessively volu Indexes and dictionaries are the compendium POPE of all knowledge. The face is the epitome of the whole man, and the eyes are as it were the epitome of the HUGHES face. If we had a complete digest of Hindu and Mahommedan laws after the model of Justinian's celebrated Pandects, we should rarely be at a loss for principles and rules of law applicable to SIR W. JONES. the cases before us. As the Theseida, upon which Chaucer's Knight's Tale is founded, is very rarely to be met with, it may not be unpleasing to the reader to see here a short summary of it. TYRWHITT. Though Mr. Halhed performed his part with fidelity, yet the Persian interpreter had supplied him only with a loose injudicious epitome of the original Sanscrit: in which abstract many essenSIR W. JONES tial passages are omitted. TO ABROGATE, v. To abolish. ABRUPT, RUGGED, ROUGH. ABRUPT, in Latin abruptus, participle of abrumpo to break off, signifies the state of being broken off. RUGGED, in Saxon hruhge, comes from the Latin rugosus full of wrinkles. ROUGH is in Saxon reoh, high Germen rauh, low German rug, Dutch ruig, in Latin rudis uneven. These words mark different de grees of unevenness. What is abrupt has greater cavities aud protuberances than what is rugged; what is rugged has greater irregularities than what is rough. In the natural sense abrupt is opposed to what is unbroken, rugged to what is even, and rough to what is smooth. A precipice is abrupt, a path is rugged, a plank is rough. The abruptness of a body is generally occasioned by a violent concussion and separation of its parts; ruggedness arises from natural, but less violent causes; roughness is mostly a natural property, although sometimes produced by friction. In the figurative sense the distinction is equally clear. Words and manners are abrupt when they are sudden and unconnected; the temper is rugged which is exposed to frequent ebullitions of angry humour; actions are rough when performed with violence and incaution. An abrupt behaviour is the consequence of an agitated mind; a rugged disposition is inherent in the character; a rough deportment arises from an undisciplined state of feeling. An habitual steadiness and coolness of reflection is best fitted to prevent or correct any abruptness of manners; a cultivation of the Christian temper cannot fail of smoothing down all ruggedness of humour; an intercourse with polished society will inevitably refine down all roughness of behaviour. The precipice abrupt Projecting horror on the blackened flood Softens at thy return. THOMSON'S SUMMER. The evils of this life appear like rocks and precipices, rugged and barren at a distance; but at our nearer approach we find them little fruitful spots. SPECTATOR. Not the rough whirlwind, that deforms FRANCIS. TO ABSCOND, STEAL AWAY, SECRETE ONE'S SELF. ABSCOND, in Latin abscondo, is compounded of abs and condo, signifying to hide from the view, which is the original meaning of the other words; to abscond is to remove one's self for the sake of not being discovered by those with whom we are acquainted. TO STEAL AWAY is to get away so as to elude observation. To SECRETE ONE'S SELF is to get into a place of secrecy without being perceived. Dishonest men abscond, thieves steal away when they dread detection, and fugitives secrete themselves. Those who abscond will have frequent occasion to steal away, and still more frequent occasion to secrete themselves. ABSENT, ABSTRACTED, DIVERTED, DISTRACTED. ABSENT, in French absent, Latin absens, comes from ab and sum to be from, signifying away or at a distance from all objects. ABSTRACTED, in French abstrait, Latin abstractus, participle of abstraho, or ab and traho to draw from, signifies drawn or separated from all objects. DIVERTED, in French divertir, Latin diverto, compounded of di or dis asunder, and verto to turn, signifies to turn aside from the object that is present. DISTRACTED of course implies drawn asunder by different objects. A want of attention is implied in all these terms, but in different de grees and under different circum |