Chapter 14

And themeanman boweth down, and the great man humbleth himself.—Isai.ii. 9. (A.V.)But, for hismeannesseand disparagement,My Sire, who me too dearely well did love,Unto my choice by no meanes would assent.Spenser,Fairy Queen, iv. 7, 16.

And themeanman boweth down, and the great man humbleth himself.—Isai.ii. 9. (A.V.)

But, for hismeannesseand disparagement,My Sire, who me too dearely well did love,Unto my choice by no meanes would assent.

But, for hismeannesseand disparagement,

My Sire, who me too dearely well did love,

Unto my choice by no meanes would assent.

Spenser,Fairy Queen, iv. 7, 16.

A word which now simply expresses a fact, and is altogether untinged with passion or sentiment; but in its early history it ran exactly parallel to the Greek βάναυσος, which, expressing first one who plied a handicraft, came afterwards, in obedience to certain constant tendencies of language, to imply the man ethically illiberal. See the quotation from Holland,s. v.‘Fairy.’

Base andmechanicalniggardise they [flatterers] account temperate frugality.—Holland,Plutarch’s Morals, p. 93.Base dunghill villain andmechanical.Shakespeare,2 Henry VI., act i. sc. 3.It was never a good world, since employment was countedmechanic, and idleness gentility.—Whitlock,Zootomia, p. 30.

Base andmechanicalniggardise they [flatterers] account temperate frugality.—Holland,Plutarch’s Morals, p. 93.

Base dunghill villain andmechanical.

Shakespeare,2 Henry VI., act i. sc. 3.

It was never a good world, since employment was countedmechanic, and idleness gentility.—Whitlock,Zootomia, p. 30.

Meddle.This had once no such offensive meaning of mixing oneself up in other people’s business as now it has. On the contrary, Barrow in one of his sermons draws expressly the distinction between ‘meddling’ and being meddlesome, and only condemns the latter.

In the drynke that shemeddlidto you, mynge ye double to hir.—Apoc.xviii. 6.Wiclif.How is it that thou, being a Jew, askest drink of me, which am a Samaritan? For the Jewsmeddlenot [oὐ συγχρῶνται] with the Samaritans.—Johniv. 9.Cranmer.We beseech you, brethren, that ye study to be quiet, and tomeddlewith your own business.—1 Thess.iv. 10, 11.Tyndale.Tho he, that had well y-cond his lere,Thusmedledhis talke with many a teare.Spenser,The Shepherd’s Calendar, May.

In the drynke that shemeddlidto you, mynge ye double to hir.—Apoc.xviii. 6.Wiclif.

How is it that thou, being a Jew, askest drink of me, which am a Samaritan? For the Jewsmeddlenot [oὐ συγχρῶνται] with the Samaritans.—Johniv. 9.Cranmer.

We beseech you, brethren, that ye study to be quiet, and tomeddlewith your own business.—1 Thess.iv. 10, 11.Tyndale.

Tho he, that had well y-cond his lere,Thusmedledhis talke with many a teare.

Tho he, that had well y-cond his lere,

Thusmedledhis talke with many a teare.

Spenser,The Shepherd’s Calendar, May.

Mediterranean.Only seas are ‘mediterranean’ now, and for us only one Sea; but there is no reason why cities and countries should not be characterized as ‘mediterranean’ as well; and they were so once. We have preferred, however, to employ ‘inland.’

Their buildings are for the most part of tymber, for themediterraneancountreys have almost no stone.—The Kyngdome of Japonia, p. 6.An old man, full of days, and living still in yourmediterraneancity, Coventry.—Henry Holland,Preface to Holland’s Cyropædia.It [Arabia] hath store of cities, as wellmediterraneanas maritime.—Holland,Ammianus.

Their buildings are for the most part of tymber, for themediterraneancountreys have almost no stone.—The Kyngdome of Japonia, p. 6.

An old man, full of days, and living still in yourmediterraneancity, Coventry.—Henry Holland,Preface to Holland’s Cyropædia.

It [Arabia] hath store of cities, as wellmediterraneanas maritime.—Holland,Ammianus.

Medley.The same word as the French ‘mêlée.’ It is plain from the frequent use of the French ‘mêlée’ in the description of battles that we feel now the want of a corresponding English word. There have been attempts, though hardly successful ones, to naturalize ‘mêlée,’ and as ‘volée’ has become in English ‘volley,’ that so ‘mêlée’ should become ‘melley.’ Perhaps, as Tennyson has sanctioned these, employing ‘mellay’ in hisPrincess, they may now succeed. But there would have been no need of this, nor yet of borrowing the modern French form, if ‘medley’ had been allowedto keep this more passionate use, which once it possessed.

The consul for his part forslowed not to come to handfight. Themedleycontinued above three hours, and the hope of victory hung in equal balance.—Holland,Livy, p. 1119.Now began the conflict for the winning and defending of that old castle, which proved amedleyof twelve hours long.—Swedish Intelligencer, vol. ii. p. 41.

The consul for his part forslowed not to come to handfight. Themedleycontinued above three hours, and the hope of victory hung in equal balance.—Holland,Livy, p. 1119.

Now began the conflict for the winning and defending of that old castle, which proved amedleyof twelve hours long.—Swedish Intelligencer, vol. ii. p. 41.

Melancholy.This has now ceased, nearly or altogether, to designate a particular form of moody madness, the German ‘Tiefsinn,’ which was ascribed by the old physicians to a predominance ofblack bilemingling with the blood. It was not, it is true, always restrained to this particular form of mental unsoundness; thus Burton’s ‘Anatomy ofMelancholy’ has not to do with this one form of madness, but with all. This, however, was its prevailing use, and here is to be found the link of connexion between its present use, as a deep pensiveness or sadness, and its past.

That property ofmelancholy, whereby men become to be delirious in some one point, their judgment standing untouched in others.—H. More,A Brief Discourse of Enthusiasm, sect. xiv.Luther’s conference with the devil might be, for ought I know, nothing but amelancholydream.—Chillingworth,The Religion of Protestants, Preface.Though I am persuaded that none but the devil and thismelancholymiscreant were in the plot [the Duke of Buckingham’s murder], yet in foro Dei many were guilty of this blood, that rejoiced it was spilt.—Hacket,Life of Archbishop Williams, part ii. p. 80.Somemelancholymen have believed that elephants and birds and other creatures, have a language whereby they discourse with one another.—BishopReynolds,Passions and Faculties of the Soul, c. 39.

That property ofmelancholy, whereby men become to be delirious in some one point, their judgment standing untouched in others.—H. More,A Brief Discourse of Enthusiasm, sect. xiv.

Luther’s conference with the devil might be, for ought I know, nothing but amelancholydream.—Chillingworth,The Religion of Protestants, Preface.

Though I am persuaded that none but the devil and thismelancholymiscreant were in the plot [the Duke of Buckingham’s murder], yet in foro Dei many were guilty of this blood, that rejoiced it was spilt.—Hacket,Life of Archbishop Williams, part ii. p. 80.

Somemelancholymen have believed that elephants and birds and other creatures, have a language whereby they discourse with one another.—BishopReynolds,Passions and Faculties of the Soul, c. 39.

There is a good note on these words, and on the changes of meaning which they have undergone, in Craik’sEnglish of Shakespeare, p. 80. He there says: ‘Merely (from the Latin merus and mere) means purely, only. It separates that which it designates and qualifies from everything else. But in so doing the chief or most emphatic reference may be made either to that which is included, or to that which is excluded. In modern English it is always to the latter. In Shakespeare’s day the other reference was more common, that namely to what was included.’

With them all the people of Mounster went out, and many other of them which weremereEnglish, thenceforth joined themselves with the Irish against the king, and termed themselves very Irish.—Spenser,View of the State of Ireland.Our wine is here mingled with water and with myrrh; there [in heaven] it ismereand unmixed.—BishopTaylor,The Worthy Communicant.The great winding-sheets, that bury all things in oblivion, are two, deluges and earthquakes. As for conflagrations and great droughts, they do notmerelydispeople and destroy. Phaeton’s car went but a day; and the three years’ drought, in the time of Elias, was but particular, and left people alive.—Bacon,Essays, 58.Fye on’t; O fye! ’tis an unweeded garden,That grows to seed; things rank and gross in naturePossess itmerely.Shakespeare,Hamlet, act i. sc. 2.

Our wine is here mingled with water and with myrrh; there [in heaven] it ismereand unmixed.—BishopTaylor,The Worthy Communicant.

The great winding-sheets, that bury all things in oblivion, are two, deluges and earthquakes. As for conflagrations and great droughts, they do notmerelydispeople and destroy. Phaeton’s car went but a day; and the three years’ drought, in the time of Elias, was but particular, and left people alive.—Bacon,Essays, 58.

Fye on’t; O fye! ’tis an unweeded garden,That grows to seed; things rank and gross in naturePossess itmerely.

Fye on’t; O fye! ’tis an unweeded garden,

That grows to seed; things rank and gross in nature

Possess itmerely.

Shakespeare,Hamlet, act i. sc. 2.

Mess.This used continually to be applied to a quarternion, or group offourpersons or things. Probably in the distribution of food to large numbers, it was found most convenient to arrange them infours, and hence this application of the word. A ‘mess’ at the Inns of Court still consists of four. A phrase-book published in London in 1617 bears this title, ‘Janua LinguarumQuadrilinguis, or A Messe of Tongues, Latine, English, French, and Spanish.’

There lacks a fourth thing to make up themess.—Latimer,Sermon5.Where are yourmess19of sons to back you now?Shakespeare,3 Henry VI.act i. sc. 4.Amongst whom [converted Jews] we meet with amessof most eminent men; Nicolaus Lyra, that grand commentator on the Bible; Hieronymus de Sanctâ Fide, turned Christian about anno 1412; Ludovicus Carettus, living in Paris anno 1553; and the never sufficiently to be praised Emmanuel Tremellius.—Fuller,A Pisgah Sight of Palestine, part ii. b. 5.

There lacks a fourth thing to make up themess.—Latimer,Sermon5.

Where are yourmess19of sons to back you now?

Shakespeare,3 Henry VI.act i. sc. 4.

Amongst whom [converted Jews] we meet with amessof most eminent men; Nicolaus Lyra, that grand commentator on the Bible; Hieronymus de Sanctâ Fide, turned Christian about anno 1412; Ludovicus Carettus, living in Paris anno 1553; and the never sufficiently to be praised Emmanuel Tremellius.—Fuller,A Pisgah Sight of Palestine, part ii. b. 5.

Metal.The Latin ‘metallum’ signified a mine before it signified the metal which was found in the mine; and Jeremy Taylor uses ‘metal’ in this sense of mine. This may be a latinism peculiar to him, as he has of such not a few; in which case it would scarcely have a right to a place in this little volume, which does not propose to note the peculiarities of single writers, but the general course of the language. I, however, insert it, counting it more probable that my limited reading hinders me from furnishing an example of this use from some other author, than that such does not somewhere exist.

It was impossible to live without our king, but as slaves live, that is, such who are civilly dead, and persons condemned tometals.—BishopTaylor,Ductor Dubitantium, Epistle Dedicatory.

Methodist.This term is restricted at present to the followers of John Wesley; but it was once applied to those who followed a certain ‘method’ in philosophical speculation, or in the ethical treatment of themselves or others.

The finestmethodists, according to Aristotle’s golden rule of artificial bounds, condemn geometrical precepts in arithmetic, or arithmetical precepts in geometry, as irregular and abusive.—G. Harvey,Pierce’s Supererogation, p. 117.For physick, search into the writings of Hippocrates, Galen and themethodists.—Sanderson,Sermons, vol. ii. p. 135.All of us have some or other tender parts of our souls, which we cannot endure should be ungently touched; every man must be his ownmethodistto find them out.—Jackson,Justifying Faith, b. iv. c. 5.

For physick, search into the writings of Hippocrates, Galen and themethodists.—Sanderson,Sermons, vol. ii. p. 135.

All of us have some or other tender parts of our souls, which we cannot endure should be ungently touched; every man must be his ownmethodistto find them out.—Jackson,Justifying Faith, b. iv. c. 5.

Militia.By this name, as the contests between Charles I. and his Parliament have made us all to know, the entire military force of the nation, and not a part of it only, was designated in the seventeenth century. It is true indeed that this force did much more nearly resemble our militia than our standing army, but it was never used for that to the exclusion of this.

It was a small thing to contend with the Parliament about the sole power of themilitia, which we see him doing little less than laying hands on the weapons of God Himself, which are his judgements, to wield and manage them by the sway and bent of his own frail cogitations.—Milton,Iconoclastes, c. 26.The king’s captains and soldiers fight his battles, and yet he issummus imperator, and the power of themilitiais his.—BishopTaylor,Ductor Dubitantium, iii. 3, 7.Ye are of his flock and hismilitia; ye are now to fight his battles, and therefore to put on his armour.—Id.,On Preparation for Confirmation, § 7.

The king’s captains and soldiers fight his battles, and yet he issummus imperator, and the power of themilitiais his.—BishopTaylor,Ductor Dubitantium, iii. 3, 7.

Ye are of his flock and hismilitia; ye are now to fight his battles, and therefore to put on his armour.—Id.,On Preparation for Confirmation, § 7.

Minion.Once no more than darling or dearling (mignon). It is quite a superaddition of later times that the ‘minion’ is an unworthy object, on whom an excessive fondness is bestowed.

Map now an Adam in thy memory,By God’s own hand made with great majesty;No idiot fool, nor drunk with vain opinion,But God’s disciple, and his dearestminion.Sylvester,Du Bartas’ Weeks, The Imposture.Whoso to marry aminionwifeHath had good chance and hap,Must love her and cherish her all his life,And dandle her in his lap.Old Song.

Map now an Adam in thy memory,By God’s own hand made with great majesty;No idiot fool, nor drunk with vain opinion,But God’s disciple, and his dearestminion.

Map now an Adam in thy memory,

By God’s own hand made with great majesty;

No idiot fool, nor drunk with vain opinion,

But God’s disciple, and his dearestminion.

Sylvester,Du Bartas’ Weeks, The Imposture.

Whoso to marry aminionwifeHath had good chance and hap,Must love her and cherish her all his life,And dandle her in his lap.

Whoso to marry aminionwife

Hath had good chance and hap,

Must love her and cherish her all his life,

And dandle her in his lap.

Old Song.

Minute.‘Minutes’ are now ‘minúte’ portions oftime; they might once be ‘minúte’ portions of anything.

But whanne a pore widewe was comun, sche keste twomynutis, that is a ferthing.—Markxii. 42.Wiclif.Let us, with the poor widow of the Gospel, at least give twominutes.—Becon,The Nosegay, Preface.An enquiry into theminutesof conscience is commonly the work of persons that live holily.—BishopTaylor,Doctrine and Practice of Repentance, Preface.And now, after such a sublimity of malice, I will not instance in the sacrilegious ruin of the neighbouring temples, which needs must have perished in the flame. These are butminutes, in respect of the ruin prepared for the living temples.—Id.,Sermon on the Gunpowder Treason.

But whanne a pore widewe was comun, sche keste twomynutis, that is a ferthing.—Markxii. 42.Wiclif.

Let us, with the poor widow of the Gospel, at least give twominutes.—Becon,The Nosegay, Preface.

An enquiry into theminutesof conscience is commonly the work of persons that live holily.—BishopTaylor,Doctrine and Practice of Repentance, Preface.

And now, after such a sublimity of malice, I will not instance in the sacrilegious ruin of the neighbouring temples, which needs must have perished in the flame. These are butminutes, in respect of the ruin prepared for the living temples.—Id.,Sermon on the Gunpowder Treason.

Miscreant.A settled conviction that to believe wrongly is the way to live wrongly has caused that in all languages words, which originally did but indicate the first, have gradually acquired a meaning of the second. There is no more illustrious example of this than ‘miscreant,’ which now charges him to whom it is applied not with religious error, but with extreme moral depravity; while yet, according to its etymology, it did but mean at the first misbeliever, and as such would have been as freely applied to the morally most blameless of these as to the vilest and the worst. In the quotation from Shakespeare York means to charge the Maid of Orleans, as a dealer in unlawful charms, with apostasy from the Christian faith, according to the low and unworthy estimate of her character, above which even Shakespeare himself has not risen.

We are not therefore ashamed of the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, becausemiscreantsin scorn have upbraided us that the highest of our wisdom is, Believe.—Hooker,Ecclesiastical Polity, b. v.One sort you say be those that believe not in Christ, but deny Christ and his Scripture; as be the Turks, paynims, and such othermiscreants.—Frith,Works, 1572, p. 62.Curse,miscreant, when thou comest to the stake.Shakespeare,1 Henry VI., act v. sc. 2.The consort and the principal servants of Soliman had been honourably restored without ransom; and the emperor’s generosity to themiscreantwas interpreted as treason to the Christian cause.—Gibbon,Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, c. 58.

We are not therefore ashamed of the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, becausemiscreantsin scorn have upbraided us that the highest of our wisdom is, Believe.—Hooker,Ecclesiastical Polity, b. v.

One sort you say be those that believe not in Christ, but deny Christ and his Scripture; as be the Turks, paynims, and such othermiscreants.—Frith,Works, 1572, p. 62.

Curse,miscreant, when thou comest to the stake.

Shakespeare,1 Henry VI., act v. sc. 2.

The consort and the principal servants of Soliman had been honourably restored without ransom; and the emperor’s generosity to themiscreantwas interpreted as treason to the Christian cause.—Gibbon,Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, c. 58.

We may notice a curious shifting of parts in ‘miser,’ ‘misery,’ ‘miserable.’ There was a time when the ‘miser’ was the wretched man, he is now the covetous; at the same time ‘misery,’ which is now wretchedness, and ‘miserable,’ which is now wretched, were severally covetousness and covetous. They have in fact exactly reversed their uses. Men still express by some words of this group, although not by the same, by ‘miser’ (and ‘miserly’), not as once by ‘misery’ and ‘miserable,’ their deep moral conviction that the avaricious man is his own tormentor, and bears his punishment involved in his sin. A passage, too long to quote, in Gascoigne’sFruits of War, st. 72-74, is very instructive on the different uses of the word ‘miser’ even in his time, and on the manner in which it was even then hovering between the two meanings.

Because thou sayest, ‘That I am rich and enriched and lack nothing;’ and knowest not that thou art amiser[et nescis quia tu esmiser, Vulg.] and miserable and poor and blind and naked.—Rev.iii. 17. Rhemish Version.Vouchsafe to stay your steed for humblemiser’ssake.Spenser,Fairy Queen, ii. 1, 8.He [Perseus] returned again to his old humour which was born and bred with him, and that was avarice andmisery.—North,Plutarch’s Lives, p. 215.But Brutus, scorning his [Octavius Cæsar’s]miseryand niggardliness, gave unto every band a number of wethers to sacrifice, and fifty silver drachmas to every soldier.—Id.,ib., p. 830.Ifavaricebe thy vice, yet make it not thy punishment;miserablemen commiserate not themselves; bowelless unto themselves, and merciless unto their own bowels.—SirT. Browne,Letter to a Friend.

Vouchsafe to stay your steed for humblemiser’ssake.

Spenser,Fairy Queen, ii. 1, 8.

He [Perseus] returned again to his old humour which was born and bred with him, and that was avarice andmisery.—North,Plutarch’s Lives, p. 215.

But Brutus, scorning his [Octavius Cæsar’s]miseryand niggardliness, gave unto every band a number of wethers to sacrifice, and fifty silver drachmas to every soldier.—Id.,ib., p. 830.

Ifavaricebe thy vice, yet make it not thy punishment;miserablemen commiserate not themselves; bowelless unto themselves, and merciless unto their own bowels.—SirT. Browne,Letter to a Friend.

The liberal-hearted man is by the opinion of the prodigal,miserable; and by the judgment of themiserable, lavish.—Hooker,Ecclesiastical Polity, b. v. c. 65.

Miss.Now to be conscious of the loss of, and nearly answering to the Latin ‘desiderare,’ but once to do without, to dispense with.

But as ’tis,We cannotmisshim; he does make our fire,Fetch in our wood, and serves in officesThat profit us.Shakespeare,Tempest, act i. sc. 2.I will have honest valiant souls about me,I cannotmissthee.Beaumont and Fletcher,The Mad Lover, act. ii.

But as ’tis,We cannotmisshim; he does make our fire,Fetch in our wood, and serves in officesThat profit us.

But as ’tis,

We cannotmisshim; he does make our fire,

Fetch in our wood, and serves in offices

That profit us.

Shakespeare,Tempest, act i. sc. 2.

I will have honest valiant souls about me,I cannotmissthee.

I will have honest valiant souls about me,

I cannotmissthee.

Beaumont and Fletcher,The Mad Lover, act. ii.

Model.This is due to a French form from a late Latin diminutive of ‘modulus,’ a diminutive of ‘modus;’ but this diminutive sense which once went constantly with the word, and which will alone explain the quotations which follow, when it lies in the word now, exists only by accident of context.

O England,modelto thy inward greatness,Like little body with a mighty heart.Shakespeare,Henry V., act ii. Chorus.And nothing can we call our own but death,And that smallmodelof the barren earthWhich serves as paste and cover to our bones.Id.,Richard II., act iii. sc. 2.If Solomon’s Temple were compared to some structures and fanes of heathen gods, it would appear as St. Gregory’s to St. Paul’s (the babe by the mother’s side), or rather this David’smodelwould be like David himself standing by Goliath, so gigantic were some pagan fabrics in comparison thereof.—Fuller,A Pisgah Sight of Palestine, b. iii. c. 3.

O England,modelto thy inward greatness,Like little body with a mighty heart.

O England,modelto thy inward greatness,

Like little body with a mighty heart.

Shakespeare,Henry V., act ii. Chorus.

And nothing can we call our own but death,And that smallmodelof the barren earthWhich serves as paste and cover to our bones.

And nothing can we call our own but death,

And that smallmodelof the barren earth

Which serves as paste and cover to our bones.

Id.,Richard II., act iii. sc. 2.

If Solomon’s Temple were compared to some structures and fanes of heathen gods, it would appear as St. Gregory’s to St. Paul’s (the babe by the mother’s side), or rather this David’smodelwould be like David himself standing by Goliath, so gigantic were some pagan fabrics in comparison thereof.—Fuller,A Pisgah Sight of Palestine, b. iii. c. 3.

Mood.It is hardly necessary to observe that there are two ‘moods’ in the English language, the one the Latin ‘modus,’ and existing in the two forms of ‘mood’ (grammatical) and ‘mode;’ the other the Anglo-Saxon ‘mód,’ the German ‘muth.’ It is this last with which we are dealing here. It would seem as if its homonym had influenced it so far as to take out in great part the force from it, though not from ‘moody;’ but it had not always so done.

And on here bare knees adoun they falle,And wolde han kist his feet ther as he stood,Till atte laste aslaked was hismood.Chaucer,The Knightes Tale, 900.And as a lion skulking all in nightFar off in pastures, and, come home, all dightIn jaws and breastlocks with an oxe’s bloodNew feasted on him, his looks full ofmood,So looked Ulysses.Chapman,Homer’s Odysseis, xxii. 518.Then Phœbus gathered up his steeds that yet for fear had runLike flaighted fiends, and in hismoodwithout respect begunTo beat his whipstock on their pates, and lash them on their sides.Golding,Ovid’s Metamorphosis, b. ii.

And on here bare knees adoun they falle,And wolde han kist his feet ther as he stood,Till atte laste aslaked was hismood.

And on here bare knees adoun they falle,

And wolde han kist his feet ther as he stood,

Till atte laste aslaked was hismood.

Chaucer,The Knightes Tale, 900.

And as a lion skulking all in nightFar off in pastures, and, come home, all dightIn jaws and breastlocks with an oxe’s bloodNew feasted on him, his looks full ofmood,So looked Ulysses.

And as a lion skulking all in night

Far off in pastures, and, come home, all dight

In jaws and breastlocks with an oxe’s blood

New feasted on him, his looks full ofmood,

So looked Ulysses.

Chapman,Homer’s Odysseis, xxii. 518.

Then Phœbus gathered up his steeds that yet for fear had runLike flaighted fiends, and in hismoodwithout respect begunTo beat his whipstock on their pates, and lash them on their sides.

Then Phœbus gathered up his steeds that yet for fear had run

Like flaighted fiends, and in hismoodwithout respect begun

To beat his whipstock on their pates, and lash them on their sides.

Golding,Ovid’s Metamorphosis, b. ii.

Morose.It is very curious that while the classical ‘mōrosus’ expressed one given overmuch to his own manners, habits, ways (mores), very nearly the Greek αὐθέκαστος, the medieval ‘mŏrosus’ was commonly connected with ‘mora,’ a delay;20and in treatises of Christian ethics was the technical word to express the sin ofdelayingupon impure, wanton,or, as in the quotation from South, malignant thoughts, instead of rejecting them on the instant. See, for instance, Gerson,Opp., vol. i. p. 377, for evidence constantly recurring of its connexion for him with ‘mora.’ So long as the scholastic theology exerted more or less influence on our own, ‘morose’ was often employed in this sense; which, however, it has since entirely foregone. I owe the third quotation given below to Todd, who is so entirely unaware of this history of ‘morose,’ that he explains it there as ungovernable!

Here are forbidden all wanton words, and allmorosedelighting in venereous thoughts, all rolling and tossing such things in our minds.—BishopTaylor,Doctrine and Practice of Repentance, c. 4, § 1.Allmorosethoughts, that is,delaying, dwelling, or insisting on such thoughts, fancying of such unclean matters with delectation.—Hammond,Practical Catechism, b. ii. § 6.In this [the seventh] commandment are forbidden all that feed this sin [adultery], or are incentives to it, as luxurious diet, inflaming wines, an idle life,morosethoughts, that dwell in the fancy with delight.—Nicholson,Exposition of the Catechism, 1662, p. 123.For we must know that it is themorosedwelling of the thoughts upon an injury, a long and sullen meditation upon a wrong, that incorporates and rivets it into the mind.—South,Sermons, vol. x. p. 278.

Here are forbidden all wanton words, and allmorosedelighting in venereous thoughts, all rolling and tossing such things in our minds.—BishopTaylor,Doctrine and Practice of Repentance, c. 4, § 1.

Allmorosethoughts, that is,delaying, dwelling, or insisting on such thoughts, fancying of such unclean matters with delectation.—Hammond,Practical Catechism, b. ii. § 6.

In this [the seventh] commandment are forbidden all that feed this sin [adultery], or are incentives to it, as luxurious diet, inflaming wines, an idle life,morosethoughts, that dwell in the fancy with delight.—Nicholson,Exposition of the Catechism, 1662, p. 123.

For we must know that it is themorosedwelling of the thoughts upon an injury, a long and sullen meditation upon a wrong, that incorporates and rivets it into the mind.—South,Sermons, vol. x. p. 278.

Mortal.We speak still of a ‘mortal’ sin or a ‘mortal’ wound, but the active sense has nearly departed from the word, as the passive has altogether departed from ‘deadly,’ which see.

Were there a serpent seen with forkéd tongueThat slily glided towards your majesty,It were but necessary you were waked,Lest, being suffered in that harmful slumber,Themortalworm might make the sleep eternal.Shakespeare,2 Henry VI., act iii. sc. 2.Come, thoumortalwretch,With thy sharp teeth this knot intrinsicateOf life at once untie.Id.,Antony and Cleopatra, act v. sc. 2.

Were there a serpent seen with forkéd tongue

That slily glided towards your majesty,

It were but necessary you were waked,

Lest, being suffered in that harmful slumber,

Themortalworm might make the sleep eternal.

Shakespeare,2 Henry VI., act iii. sc. 2.

Come, thoumortalwretch,With thy sharp teeth this knot intrinsicateOf life at once untie.

Come, thoumortalwretch,

With thy sharp teeth this knot intrinsicate

Of life at once untie.

Id.,Antony and Cleopatra, act v. sc. 2.

Mountebank.Nowanyantic fool; but once restrained to the quack-doctor who at fairs and such places of resort, havingmountedon abankorbench, from thence proclaimed the virtue of his drugs; being described by Whitlock (Zootomia, p. 436) as ‘a fellow above the vulgar more by three planks and two empty hogsheads than by any true skill.’ See the quotation from Jackson,s. v.‘Authentic.’

Such is the weakness and easy credulity of men, that amountebankor cunning woman is preferred before an able physician.—Whitlock,Zootomia, p. 437.Giving no cause of complaint to any but such as are unwilling to be healed of their shameful and dangerous diseases, who love ignorant and flatteringmountebanksmore than the most learned and faithful physicians of souls.—Gauden,Hieraspistes, p. 427.Above the reach of antidotes, the powerOf the famed Ponticmountebankto cure.Oldham,Third Satire upon the Jesuits.

Such is the weakness and easy credulity of men, that amountebankor cunning woman is preferred before an able physician.—Whitlock,Zootomia, p. 437.

Giving no cause of complaint to any but such as are unwilling to be healed of their shameful and dangerous diseases, who love ignorant and flatteringmountebanksmore than the most learned and faithful physicians of souls.—Gauden,Hieraspistes, p. 427.

Above the reach of antidotes, the powerOf the famed Ponticmountebankto cure.

Above the reach of antidotes, the power

Of the famed Ponticmountebankto cure.

Oldham,Third Satire upon the Jesuits.

Muse.There is a very curious use of ‘Muse’ in our earlier literature, according to which the female sex of this inspirer of song falls quite out of sight. This recurs too often and too deliberately to be explained away as the accidental inaccuracy of some single writer.

Nor in the pomp of proud audacious deedsIntends ourMuseto vaunthisheavenly verse.Marlowe,Dr. Faustus, 5, 6.So is it not with me as with thatMuse,Stirred by a painted beauty tohisverse.Shakespeare,Sonnet 21.So may some gentleMuse,With lucky words favour my destined urn,And, ashepasses, turn.Milton,Lycidas, 19.Sharp-judging Adriel, the Muses’ friend,Himself aMuse.Dryden,Absalom and Achitophel, pt. 1.

Nor in the pomp of proud audacious deedsIntends ourMuseto vaunthisheavenly verse.

Nor in the pomp of proud audacious deeds

Intends ourMuseto vaunthisheavenly verse.

Marlowe,Dr. Faustus, 5, 6.

So is it not with me as with thatMuse,Stirred by a painted beauty tohisverse.

So is it not with me as with thatMuse,

Stirred by a painted beauty tohisverse.

Shakespeare,Sonnet 21.

So may some gentleMuse,With lucky words favour my destined urn,And, ashepasses, turn.

So may some gentleMuse,

With lucky words favour my destined urn,

And, ashepasses, turn.

Milton,Lycidas, 19.

Sharp-judging Adriel, the Muses’ friend,Himself aMuse.

Sharp-judging Adriel, the Muses’ friend,

Himself aMuse.

Dryden,Absalom and Achitophel, pt. 1.

Mutton.It is a refinement in the English language, one wanting in some other languages which count themselves as refined or more, that it has in so many cases one word to express the living animal, and another its flesh prepared for food; ox and beef, calf and veal, deer and venison, sheep and mutton. In this last instance the refinement is of somewhat late introduction. At one time they were synonyms.

Peucestas, having feasted them in the kingdom of Persia, and given every soldier amuttonto sacrifice, thought he had won great favour and credit among them.—North,Plutarch’s Lives, p. 505.A starvedmutton’scarcass would better fit their palates.—Ben Jonson,The Sad Shepherd, act i. sc. 2.

Peucestas, having feasted them in the kingdom of Persia, and given every soldier amuttonto sacrifice, thought he had won great favour and credit among them.—North,Plutarch’s Lives, p. 505.

A starvedmutton’scarcass would better fit their palates.—Ben Jonson,The Sad Shepherd, act i. sc. 2.

Namely.Now only designates; but, like the German ‘namentlich,’ once designated as first and chief, as deserving above all others to be named.

For there are many disobedient, and talkers of vanity, and deceivers of minds,namely[μάλιστα] they of the circumcision.—Tit.i. 10.Tyndale.For in the darkness occasioned by the opposition of the earth just in the mids between the sun and the moon, there was nothing for him [Nicias] to fear, andnamelyat such a time, when there was cause for him to have stood upon his feet, and served valiantly in the field.—Holland,Plutarch’s Morals, p. 265.

For there are many disobedient, and talkers of vanity, and deceivers of minds,namely[μάλιστα] they of the circumcision.—Tit.i. 10.Tyndale.

For in the darkness occasioned by the opposition of the earth just in the mids between the sun and the moon, there was nothing for him [Nicias] to fear, andnamelyat such a time, when there was cause for him to have stood upon his feet, and served valiantly in the field.—Holland,Plutarch’s Morals, p. 265.

Naturalist.At present the student of natural history; but in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries the name was often given to the deist, as one who denied any but a religionof nature, ‘Natural religion men’ such were sometimes called. See the quotation from Rogers,s. v.‘Civil.’

But that he [the atheist] might not be shy of me, I have conformed myself as near his own garb as I might, without partaking of his folly or wickedness; and have appeared in the plain shape of a merenaturalistmyself, that I might, if it were possible, win him off from downright atheism.—H. More,Antidote against Atheism, Preface, p. 7.This is the invention of Satan, that whereas all will not be profane, nornaturalists, nor epicures, but will be religious, lo, he hath a bait for every fish, and can insinuate himself as well into religion itself as into lusts and pleasures.—Rogers,Naaman the Syrian, p. 115.Heathennaturalistshold better consort with the primitive Church concerning the nature of sin original than the Socinians.—Jackson,Of Christ’s Everlasting Priesthood, b. x. c. 8, § 4.

This is the invention of Satan, that whereas all will not be profane, nornaturalists, nor epicures, but will be religious, lo, he hath a bait for every fish, and can insinuate himself as well into religion itself as into lusts and pleasures.—Rogers,Naaman the Syrian, p. 115.

Heathennaturalistshold better consort with the primitive Church concerning the nature of sin original than the Socinians.—Jackson,Of Christ’s Everlasting Priesthood, b. x. c. 8, § 4.

Needful.This was once often equivalent to ‘needy.’ The words, however, have in more recent times been discriminated in use, and ‘needy’ is active, and ‘needful’ passive.

These ferthinges shal be gaderid at everi moneth ende, and delid forth to theneedfulman in honor of Christ and his moder.—English Gilds, p. 38.Grieve not the heart of him that is helpless, and withdraw not the gift from theneedful.—Ecclus.iv. 2.Coverdale.For thou art the poor man’s help, and strength for theneedfulin his necessity.—Isai.xxv. 3. Id.Great variety of clothes have been permitted to princes and nobility, and they usually give those clothes as rewards to servants and other personsneedfulenough.—BishopTaylor,Holy Living, iv. 8, 13.

These ferthinges shal be gaderid at everi moneth ende, and delid forth to theneedfulman in honor of Christ and his moder.—English Gilds, p. 38.

Grieve not the heart of him that is helpless, and withdraw not the gift from theneedful.—Ecclus.iv. 2.Coverdale.

For thou art the poor man’s help, and strength for theneedfulin his necessity.—Isai.xxv. 3. Id.

Great variety of clothes have been permitted to princes and nobility, and they usually give those clothes as rewards to servants and other personsneedfulenough.—BishopTaylor,Holy Living, iv. 8, 13.

Nephew.Restrained at this present to the son of a brother or a sister; but formerly of much laxer use, a grandson, or even a remoter lineal descendant. In East Anglia it is still so used in the popular language (see Nall,Dialects of the East Coast, s. v.). ‘Nephew’ in fact has undergone exactly the same change of meaning that ‘nepos’ in Latin underwent; which in the Augustan age meaning grandson, in the post-Augustan acquired the signification of ‘nephew’ in our present acceptation of that word. See ‘Niece.’

The warts, black moles, spots and freckles of fathers, not appearing at all upon their own children’s skin, begin afterwards to put forth and show themselves in theirnephews, to wit, the children of their sons and daughters.—Holland,Plutarch’s Morals, p. 555.With what intent they [the apocryphal books] were first published, those words of thenephewof Jesus do plainly enough signify: After that mygrandfatherJesus had given himself to the reading of the law and the prophets, he purposed also to write something pertaining to learning and wisdom.—Hooker,Ecclesiastical Polity, b. v. c. 20.If any widow have children ornephews[ἔκγονα], let them learn first to show piety at home, and to requite their parents.—1 Tim.v. 4. (A.V.)

With what intent they [the apocryphal books] were first published, those words of thenephewof Jesus do plainly enough signify: After that mygrandfatherJesus had given himself to the reading of the law and the prophets, he purposed also to write something pertaining to learning and wisdom.—Hooker,Ecclesiastical Polity, b. v. c. 20.

If any widow have children ornephews[ἔκγονα], let them learn first to show piety at home, and to requite their parents.—1 Tim.v. 4. (A.V.)

Nice.The use of ‘nice’ in the sense of fastidious, difficult to please, still survives, indeed this is now,as in times past, the ruling notion of the word; only this ‘niceness’ is taken now much oftener in good part than in ill; nor, even when taken in an ill sense, would the word be used exactly as in the passage which follows.

A. W. [Anthony Wood] was with him several times, ate and drank with him, and had several discourses with him concerning arms and armory, which he understood well; but he found himniceand supercilious.—A. Wood,Athenæ Oxonienses, 1848, vol. i. p. 161.

Niece.This word has undergone the same change and limitation of meaning as ‘nephew,’ with indeed the further limitation that it is now applied to the female sex alone, to thedaughterof a brother or a sister, being once used, as ‘neptis’ was at the first, for children’s children, male and female alike. See ‘Nephew.’

Laban answeride to hym: My dowytres and sones, and the flockis, and alle that thou beholdist, ben myne, and what may I do to my sones and to myneces?—Gen.xxi. 43 (cf.Exod.xxxiv. 7).Wiclif.The Emperor Augustus, among other singularities that he had by himself during his life, saw, ere he died, the nephew of hisniece, that is to say, his progeny to the fourth degree of lineal descent.—Holland,Pliny, vol. i. p. 162.Within the compass of which very same time he [Julius Cæsar] lost by death first his mother, then his daughter Julia, and not long after hisnieceby the said daughter.—Id.,Suetonius, p. 11.

Laban answeride to hym: My dowytres and sones, and the flockis, and alle that thou beholdist, ben myne, and what may I do to my sones and to myneces?—Gen.xxi. 43 (cf.Exod.xxxiv. 7).Wiclif.

The Emperor Augustus, among other singularities that he had by himself during his life, saw, ere he died, the nephew of hisniece, that is to say, his progeny to the fourth degree of lineal descent.—Holland,Pliny, vol. i. p. 162.

Within the compass of which very same time he [Julius Cæsar] lost by death first his mother, then his daughter Julia, and not long after hisnieceby the said daughter.—Id.,Suetonius, p. 11.

At present offensive and moving disgust; but once noxious and actually hurtful; thus a skunk would be ‘noisome’ now; a tiger was ‘noisome’ then. In all passages ofthe Authorized Translation of the Bible where the word occurs, as atEzek.xiv. 15, 21, it is used not in the present meaning, but the past. See ‘Annoy.’

They that will be rich fall into temptations and snares, and into many foolish andnoisome[βλαβεράς] lusts, which drown men in perdition and destruction.—1 Tim.vi. 9. Geneva.He [the superstitious person] is persuaded that they be gods indeed, but such as benoisome, hurtful, and doing mischief unto men.—Holland,Plutarch’s Morals, p. 260.Thisnoisomecreature [the crocodile] is one of the greatest wonders we meet with, in that from so small a beginning as an egg, not much bigger than that of a turkey, they increase to eight or ten yards in length.—Herbert,Travels, 1636, p. 323.They [the prelates] are so far from hindering dissension, that they have made unprofitable, and evennoisome, the chiefest remedy we have to keep Christendom at one, which is, by Councils.—Milton,Reason of Church Government, b. i. c. 6.Sad in his time was the condition of the Israelites, oppressed by the Midianites, who swarmed like grasshoppers for number andnoisomeness, devouring all which the other had sown.—Fuller,A Pisgah Sight of Palestine, part i. b. ii. c. 8.

They that will be rich fall into temptations and snares, and into many foolish andnoisome[βλαβεράς] lusts, which drown men in perdition and destruction.—1 Tim.vi. 9. Geneva.

He [the superstitious person] is persuaded that they be gods indeed, but such as benoisome, hurtful, and doing mischief unto men.—Holland,Plutarch’s Morals, p. 260.

Thisnoisomecreature [the crocodile] is one of the greatest wonders we meet with, in that from so small a beginning as an egg, not much bigger than that of a turkey, they increase to eight or ten yards in length.—Herbert,Travels, 1636, p. 323.

They [the prelates] are so far from hindering dissension, that they have made unprofitable, and evennoisome, the chiefest remedy we have to keep Christendom at one, which is, by Councils.—Milton,Reason of Church Government, b. i. c. 6.

Sad in his time was the condition of the Israelites, oppressed by the Midianites, who swarmed like grasshoppers for number andnoisomeness, devouring all which the other had sown.—Fuller,A Pisgah Sight of Palestine, part i. b. ii. c. 8.

‘Novels’ once were simply news, ‘nouvelles;’ and the ‘novelist’ not a writer of new tales, but an innovator, a bringer in of new fashions into the Church or State.

She brynges in her bille somnovelsnew;Behold! it is of an olif treeA branch, thynkes me.Townley Mysteries.But, see and say what you will,novelistshad rather be talked of, that they began a fashion and set a copy forothers, than to keep within the imitation of the most excellent precedents.—Hacket,Life of Archbishop Williams, part ii. p. 36.Everynovelistwith a whirligig in his brain must broach new opinions, and those made canons, nay sanctions, as sure as if a General Council had confirmed them.—Adams,The Devil’s Banquet, 1614, p. 52.I can hardly believe my eyes while I read such a petitnovelistcharging the whole Church as fools and heretics for not subscribing to a silly heretical notion, solely of his own invention.—South,Animadversions on Dr. Sherlock’s Book, p. 3.

She brynges in her bille somnovelsnew;Behold! it is of an olif treeA branch, thynkes me.

She brynges in her bille somnovelsnew;

Behold! it is of an olif tree

A branch, thynkes me.

Townley Mysteries.

But, see and say what you will,novelistshad rather be talked of, that they began a fashion and set a copy forothers, than to keep within the imitation of the most excellent precedents.—Hacket,Life of Archbishop Williams, part ii. p. 36.

Everynovelistwith a whirligig in his brain must broach new opinions, and those made canons, nay sanctions, as sure as if a General Council had confirmed them.—Adams,The Devil’s Banquet, 1614, p. 52.

I can hardly believe my eyes while I read such a petitnovelistcharging the whole Church as fools and heretics for not subscribing to a silly heretical notion, solely of his own invention.—South,Animadversions on Dr. Sherlock’s Book, p. 3.

Nursery.We have but one use of ‘nursery’ at this present, namely as the place of nursing; but it was once applied as well to the person nursed, or the act of nursing.

A jolly dame, no doubt; as appears by the well battling of the plump boy, hernursery.—Fuller,A Pisgah Sight of Palestine, part i. b. ii. c. 8.Ifnurseryexceeds her [a mother’s] strength, and yet her conscience will scarce permit her to lay aside and free herself from so natural, so religious a work, yet tell her, God loves mercy better than sacrifice.—Rogers,Matrimonial Honour, p. 247.I loved her most, and thought to set my restOn her kindnursery.Shakespeare,King Lear, act i. sc. 1.

A jolly dame, no doubt; as appears by the well battling of the plump boy, hernursery.—Fuller,A Pisgah Sight of Palestine, part i. b. ii. c. 8.

Ifnurseryexceeds her [a mother’s] strength, and yet her conscience will scarce permit her to lay aside and free herself from so natural, so religious a work, yet tell her, God loves mercy better than sacrifice.—Rogers,Matrimonial Honour, p. 247.

I loved her most, and thought to set my restOn her kindnursery.

I loved her most, and thought to set my rest

On her kindnursery.

Shakespeare,King Lear, act i. sc. 1.

Obelisk.The ‘obelus’ is properly a sharp-pointed spear or spit. With a sign resembling this, spurious or doubtful passages were marked in the books of antiquity, which sign bore therefore this name of ‘obelus,’ or sometimes of its diminutive ‘obeliscus.’ It is in this sense that we find ‘obelisk’ employed by the writers in the seventeenth century; while forus at the present a small pillar tapering towards the summit is the only ‘obelisk’ that we know.

The Lord Keeper, the most circumspect of any man alive to provide for uniformity, and to countenance it, was scratched with theirobelisk, that he favoured Puritans, and that sundry of them had protection through his connivency or clemency.—Hacket,Life of Archbishop Williams, part i. p. 95.I have set my mark upon them [i.e.affected pedantic words]; and if any of them may have chanced to escape theobelisk, there can arise no other inconvenience from it but an occasion to exercise the choice and judgment of the reader.—Phillips,New World of Words, Preface.

I have set my mark upon them [i.e.affected pedantic words]; and if any of them may have chanced to escape theobelisk, there can arise no other inconvenience from it but an occasion to exercise the choice and judgment of the reader.—Phillips,New World of Words, Preface.

Obnoxious.This, in its present lax and slovenly use a vague unserviceable synonym for offensive, is properly applied to one who on the ground of a mischief or wrong committed by him is justly liable to punishment (ob noxampœnæ obligatus); and is used in this sense by South (see below). But there often falls out of the word the sense of a wrong committed; and that of liability to punishment, whether just or unjust, only remains; it does so very markedly in the quotation from Donne. But we punish, or wish to punish, those whom we dislike, and thus ‘obnoxious’ has obtained its present sense of offensive.

They envy Christ, but they turn upon the man, who was moreobnoxiousto them, and they tell him that it was not lawful for him to carry his bed that day [Johnv. 10].—Donne,Sermon 20.Examine thyself in the particulars of thy relations; especially where thou governest and takest accounts of others, and art not soobnoxiousto them as they to thee.—BishopTaylor,The Worthy Communicant, c. vi. sect. 2.What shall we then say of the power of God Himself to dispose of men? little, finite,obnoxiousthings of his own making?—South,Sermons, 1744, vol. viii. p. 315.He [Satan] is in a chain, and that chain is in God’s hand; and consequently, notwithstanding his utmost spite, he cannot be more malicious than he isobnoxious.—Id.,ib.vol. vi. p. 287.

They envy Christ, but they turn upon the man, who was moreobnoxiousto them, and they tell him that it was not lawful for him to carry his bed that day [Johnv. 10].—Donne,Sermon 20.

Examine thyself in the particulars of thy relations; especially where thou governest and takest accounts of others, and art not soobnoxiousto them as they to thee.—BishopTaylor,The Worthy Communicant, c. vi. sect. 2.

What shall we then say of the power of God Himself to dispose of men? little, finite,obnoxiousthings of his own making?—South,Sermons, 1744, vol. viii. p. 315.

He [Satan] is in a chain, and that chain is in God’s hand; and consequently, notwithstanding his utmost spite, he cannot be more malicious than he isobnoxious.—Id.,ib.vol. vi. p. 287.

There lies ever in ‘obsequious’ at the present the sense of an observance which is overdone, of an unmanly readiness to fall in with the will of another; there lay nothing of this in the Latin ‘obsequium,’ nor yet in our English word as employed two centuries ago. See the quotation from Feltham,s. v.‘Garb.’

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