MELODY, HARMONY, ACCORDANCE.

Melody, in Latin melodia, from melos, in Greek pos a verse, and the Hebrew nbn a word or a verse; harmony, in Latin harmonia, Greek appovía concord, from ap apto to fit or suit, signifies the agreement of sounds; accordance denotes the act or state of according (v. To agree).

Melody signifies any measured or modulated sounds measured after the manner of verse into distinct mem

bers or parts; harmony signifies the suiting or adapting different modulated sounds to each other; melody is therefore to harmony as a part to the whole: we must first produce melody by the rules of art; the harmony which follows must be regulated by the ear: there may be melody without harmony, but there cannot be harmony without melody: we speak of simple melody where the modes of music are not very much diversified; but we cannot speak of harmony unless there be a variety of notes to fall in with each other.

A voice is melodious inasmuch as it is capable of producing a regularly modulated note; it is harmonious inasmuch as it strikes agreeably on the ear, and produces no discordant sounds. The song of a bird is melodious or has melody in it, inasmuch as there is a concatenation of sounds in it which are admitted to be regular, and consequently agreeable to the musical

every minute particular; those that answer must be nothing disproportionate or discordant. In the artififitted for the same purpose; those that suit must have cial disposition of furniture, or all matters of art and ornament, it is of considerable importance to have some things made to correspond, so that they be placed in suitable directions to answer to each other.

In the moral application, actions are said to correspond with professions; the success of an undertaking to answer the expectation; particular measures to suit the purpose of individuals. It ill corresponds with a profession of friendship to refuse assistance to a friend in the time of need; As the attractive power in bodies is the most universal principle which produceth innumerable effects, so the corresponding social appetite in human souls is the great spring and source of moral actions.' BERKELEY. Wild schemes undertaken without thought, will never answer the expectations of the projectors; All the features of the face and tones of the voice answer like strings them by the mind.' HUGHES. It never suits the purmusical instruments to the impressions made on pose of the selfish and greedy to contribute to the relief of the necessitous; When we consider the infinite power and wisdom of the Maker, we have reason to think that it is suitable to the magnificent harmony of the universe, that the species of creatures should also by gentle degrees ascend upward from us.' AD

upon

DISON.

ASSENT, CONSENT, APPROBATION,
CONCURRENCE.

Assent, in Latin assentio, is compounded of as or ad and sentio to think, signifying to bring one's mind or judgement to a thing; approbation, in Latin approbatio, is compounded of ad and probo to prove, signifying to make a thing out good: consent and concurrence are taken in the same sense as in the preceding articles.

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Assent respects the judgement; consent respects the will. We assent to what we think true; we consent to the wish of another by agreeing to it and allowing it. Some men give their hasty assent to propositions which they do not fully understand; Precept gains only the cold approbation of reason, and compels an assent which judgement frequently yields with reluctance, even when delay is impossible.' HAWKESWORTH. Some men give their hasty consent to measures which are very injudicious;

What in sleep thou didst abhor to dream,
Waking thou never wilt consent to do. MILTON.

It is the part of the true believer not merely to assent to the Christian doctrines, but to make them the rule of his life: those who consent to a bad action are partakers in the guilt of it.

Approbation is a species of assent; concurrence of consent. To approve is not merely to assent to a thing that is right, but to feel it positively; to have

the will and judgement in accordance; concurrence is the consent of many. Approbation respects the practical conduct of men in their intercourse with each other; assent is given to speculative truths, abstract propositions, or direct assertions. It is a happy thing when our actions meet with the approbation of others; but it is of little importance if we have not at the same time an approving conscience;

That not past me, but

By learned approbation of my judges. SHAKSPEARE. We may often assent to the premises of a question or proposition, without admitting the deductions drawn from them; Faith is the assent to any proposition not thus made out by the deduction of reason, but upon the credit of the proposer.' LOCKE.

Concurrence respects matters of general concern, as consent respects those of individual interest. No bill in the house of parliament can pass for a second reading without the concurrence of a majority; Tarquin the Proud was expelled by an universal concurrence of nobles and people.' SWIFT. No parent should be induced by persuasion to give his consent to what his judgement disapproves; I am far from excusing or denying that compliance; for plenary consent it was not.' KING CHARLES.

Assent is opposed to contradiction or denial; consent to refusal; approbation to dislike or blame; concurrence to opposition: but we may sometimes seem to give our assent to what we do not expressly contradict, or seem to approve what we do not blame; and we are supposed to consent to a request when we do not positively refuse it. We may approve or disapprove of a thing without giving an intimation either of our approbation or the contrary: but concurrence cannot be altogether a negative action; it must be signified by some sign, although that need not necessarily be a word.

The assent of some people to the most important truths is so tame, that it might with no great difficulty be converted into a contradiction; The evidence of God's own testimony added unto the natural assent of reason, concerning the certainty of them, doth not a little comfort and confirm the same.' HOOKER. He who is anxious to obtain universal approbation, or even to escape censure, will find his fate depictured in the story of the old man and his ass; There is as much difference between the approbation of the judgement and the actual volitions of the will with relation to the same object, as there is between a man's viewing a desirable thing with his eye and his reaching after it with his hand.' SOUTH. According to the old proverb, Silence gives consent:'Whatever be the reason, it appears by the common consent of mankind that the want of virtue does not incur equal contempt with the want of parts.' HAWKESWORTH. It is not uncommon for ministerial men to give their concurrence in parliament to the measures of administration by a silent vote, while those of the opposite party spout forth their opposition to catch the applause of the multitude; Sir Matthew Hale mentions one

TO CONSENT, PERMIT, ALLOW. Consent has the same meaning as given under the head of Accede; permit, in French permettre, Latin permitto, compounded of per and mitto, signifies to send or let go past; allow, in French allouer, compounded of ad and louer, in German loben, low German laven, &c. from the Latin laudare to praise, signifies to give one's assent to a thing.

The idea of determining the conduct of others by some authorized act of one's own is common to these terms, but under various circumstances. They express either the act of an equal or a superior.

As the act of an equal we consent to that in which we have an interest; we permit or allow what is for the accommodation of others: we allow by abstaining to oppose; we permit by a direct expression of our will; contracts are formed by the consent of the parties who are interested;

When thou canst truly call these virtues thine,
Be wise and free, by heav'n's consent and mine.

DRYDEN.

The proprietor of an estate permits his friends to sport on his ground; You have given me your permission for this address, and encouraged me by your perusal and approbation.' DRYDEN. A person allows of passage through his premises; I was by the freedom allowable among friends tempted to vent my thoughts with negligence." BOYLE. It is sometimes prudent to consent; complaisant to permit; good natured or weak to allow.

When applied to superiors, consent is an act of private authority; permit and allow are acts of prirespects matters of serious importance; permit and vate or public authority: in the first case, consent allow regard those of an indifferent nature: a parent consents to the establishment of his children; he permits them to read certain books: he allows them to converse with him familiarly.

We must pause before we give our consent; it is volves our own judgement, and the future interests of an express sanction to the conduct of others; it inthose who are under our control;

Though what thou tell'st some doubt within me move,
But more desire to hear, if thou consent
The full relation. MILTON.

This is not always so necessary in permitting and
allowing; they are partial actions, which require no
more than the bare exercise of authority, and involve
no other consequence than the temporary pleasure of
the parties concerned. Public measures are per-
mitted and allowed, but never consented to.
law permits or allows; or the person who is author-
ized permits or allows. Permit in this case retains

The

its positive sense; allow, its negative sense, as before. Government permits individuals to fit out privateers in time of war; 'After men have acquired as much as the law permits them, they have nothing to do but to take care of the public. SwIFT. When magistrates are not vigilant, many things will be done which are not allowed; They referred all laws, that were to be passed in Ireland, to be considered, corrected, and allowed by the state of England.' SPENA judge is not permitted to pass any sentence, but what is strictly conformable to law: every man who is accused is allowed to plead his own cause, or entrust it to another, as he thinks fit.

SER.

Admit, in French admettre, Latin admitto, compounded of ad and mitto, signifies to send or to suffer to pass into; to allow, in French allouer, compounded of the intensive syllable al or ad and louer, in German loben, old German laubsan, low German laven, Swedish lofwa, Danish lover, &c. Latin laus praise, laudare to praise, signifies to give praise or approbation to a thing; permit, in French permettre, Latin permitto, is compounded of per through or away, and mitto to send or let go, signifying to let it go its way; suffer, in French souffrir, Latin suffero, is compounded of sub and fero, signifying to bear with; tolerate, in Latin toleratus, participle of tolero, from the Greek Tháw to sustain, signifies also to bear or bear with.

The actions denoted by the first three terms are more or less voluntary; those of the last two are involuntary; admit is less voluntary than allow; and that than permit. We admit what we profess not to know, or seek not to prevent; we allow what we know, and tacitly consent to; we permit what we authorise by a formal consent; we suffer and tolerate what we object to, but do not think proper to prevent. We admit of things from inadvertence, or the want of inclination to prevent them; we allow of things from easiness of temper, or the want of resolution to oppose them; we permit things from a desire to oblige or a dislike to refuse; we suffer things for want of ability to remove them; we tolerate things from motives of discretion.

What is admitted, allowed, suffered, or tolerated, has already been done; what is permitted is desired to be done. To admit, suffer, and tolerate, are said of what ought to be avoided; allow and permit of

things good, bad, or indifferent. Suffer is employed mostly with regard to private individuals; tolerate with respect to the civil power. It is dangerous to admit of familiarities from persons in a subordinate station, as they are apt to degenerate into impertinent freedoms, which though not allowable cannot be so conveniently resented in this case we are often led to permit what we might otherwise prohibit: it is a great mark of weakness and blindness in parents to suffer that in their children which they condemn in others opinions, however absurd, in matters of religion, must be tolerated by the civil authority when they have acquired such an ascendancy that they cannot be prevented without great violence.

A well-regulated society will be careful not to admit of any deviation from good order, which may afterwards become injurious as a practice; Both Houses declared that they could admit of no treaty with the king, till he took down his standard and recalled his proclamations, in which the Parliament supposed themselves to be declared traitors.' HUME. It frequently happens that what has been allowed from indiscretion is afterwards claimed as a right; Plutarch says very finely, that a man should not allow himself to hate even his enemies.' ADDISON. No earthly power can permit that which is prohibited by the divine law;

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Permit our ships a shelter on your shores,
Refitted from your woods with planks and oars,
That if our prince be safe, we may renew

Our destin'd course, and Italy pursue. DRyden. When abuses are suffered to creep in, and to take deep root in any established institution, it is difficult to bring about a reform without endangering the existence of the whole; 'No man can be said to enjoy health, who is only not sick, without he feel within himself a lightsome and invigorating principle, which will not suffer him to remain idle.' SPECTATOR. When abuses are not very grievous, it is wiser to tolerate them than run the risk of producing a greater evil; 'No man ought to be tolerated in an habitual humour, whim, or particularity of behaviour, by any who do not wait upon him for bread.' STEELE.

JOHNSON. It is ungenerous not to allow that some credit is due to those who effect any reformation in themselves; The zealots in atheism are perpetually teasing their friends to come over to them, although they allow that neither of them shall get any thing by the bargain.' ADDISON. It is necessary, before any argument can be commenced, that something should be taken for granted on both sides; I take it at the same time for granted that the immortality of the soul is sufficiently established by other arguments." STEELE.

TO ASK, BEG, REQUEST.

Ask (v. To ask, inquire) is here taken to denote an expression of our wishes generally for what we want from another; beg is contracted from the word beggar, and the German begehren to desire vehemently; request in Latin requisitus, participle of requiro, is compounded of re and quæro to seek or look after with indications of desire to possess.

The expression of a wish to some one to have something is the common idea comprehended in these terms. As this is the simple signification of ask, it is the generic term; the other two are specific: we ask in begging and requesting, but not vice versa.

Asking is peculiar to no rank or station; in consequence of our mutual dependance on each other, it is requisite for every man to ask something of another: the master asks of the servant, the servant asks of the master; the parent asks of the child, the child asks of the parent. Begging marks a degree of dependance which is peculiar to inferiors in station: we ask for matters of indifference; we beg that which we think is of importance: a child asks a favor of his parent; a poor man begs the assistance of one who is able to afford it: that is asked for which is easily granted; that is begged which is with difficulty obtained. To ask therefore requires no effort; but to beg is to ask with importunity: those who by merely asking find themselves unable to obtain what they wish will have recourse to begging.

As ask sometimes implies a demand, and beg a vehemence of desire, or strong degree of necessity; politeness has adopted another phrase, which conveys neither the imperiousness of the one, nor the urgency of the other; this is the word request. Asking carries with it an air of superiority; begging that of submission; requesting has the air of independence and equality. Asking borders too nearly on an infringement of personal liberty; begging imposes a constraint by making an appeal to the feelings: requests leave the liberty of granting or refusing unencumbered. It is the character of impertinent people to ask without considering the circumstances and situation of the person asked; they seem ready to take without permission that which is asked if it be not granted;

Let him pursue the promis'd Latian shore,
A short delay is all I ask him now,

. A pause of grief, an interval from woe. DRYDEN.

Selfish and greedy people beg with importunity, and in a tone that admits of no refusal;

But we must beg our bread in climes unknown, Beneath the scorching or the frozen zone. DRYDEN. Men of good breeding tender their requests with moderation and discretion; they request nothing but what they are certain can be conveniently complied with; But do not you my last request deny,

With yon perfidious man your int'rest try. DRYDEN. Ask is altogether exploded from polite life, although beg is not. We may beg a person's acceptance of any thing; we may beg him to favor or honor us with his company; but we can never talk of asking a person's acceptance, or asking him to do us an honor. Beg in such cases indicates a condescension which is sometimes not unbecoming, but on ordinary occasion request is with more propriety substituted in its place.

TO BEG, DESIRE.

Beg in its original sense as before given (v. To ask, beg) signifies to desire; desire, in French desir, Latin desidero, comes from desido to fix the mind on an object.

To beg, marks the wish; to desire, the will and determination.

Beg is the act of an inferior, or one in subordinate condition; desire is the act of a superior: we beg a thing as a favor; we desire it as a right; children beg their parents to grant them an indulgence;

She'll hang upon his lips, and beg him tell

The story of my passion o'er again. SOUTHERN. Parents desire their children to attend to their business; Once, when he was without lodging, meat, or clothes, one of his friends left a message, that he desired to see him about nine in the morning. Savage knew that it was his intention to assist him; but was very much disgusted that he should presume to prescribe the hour of his attendance, and I believe refused to see him.' JOHNSON.

TO BEG, BESEECH, SOLICIT, ENTREAT, SUPPLICATE, IMPLORE, CRAVE.

Beg is here taken as before (v. To ask, beg); beseech, compounded of be and seech, or seek, is an intensive verb, signifying to seek strongly; solicit, in French soliciter, Latin solicito, is probably compounded of solum or totum, and cito to cite, summon, appeal to, signifying to rouse altogether; entreat, compounded of en or in and treat, in French traiter, Latin tracto to manage, signifies to act upon; supplicate, in Latin supplicatus, participle of supplico, compounded of sup or sub and plico to fold, signifies to bend the body down in token of submission or distress in order to awaken notice; implore, in French

implorer, Latin imploro, compounded of im or in and ploro to weep or lament, signifies to act upon by weeping; crave, in Saxon cravian, signifies to long for earnestly.

All these terms denote a species of asking, varied as to the person, the object, and the manner; the first four do not mark such a state of dependence in the agent as the last three: to beg denotes a state of want; to beseech, entreat, and solicit, a state of urgent necessity; supplicate and implore, a state of abject distress; crave, the lowest state of physical want: one begs with importunity; beseeches with earnestness; entreats by the force of reasoning and strong representation; one solicits by virtue of one's interest; supplicates by an humble address; implores by every mark of dejection and humiliation.

Begging is the act of the poor when they need assistance: beseeching and entreating are resorted to by friends and equals, when they want to influence or persuade, but beseeching is more urgent; entreating more argumentative: solicitations are employed to obtain favors, which have more respect to the circumstances than the rank of the solicitor: supplicating and imploring are resorted to by sufferers for the relief of their misery, and are addressed to those who have the power of averting or increasing the calamity: craving is the consequence of longing; it marks an earnestness of supplication; an abject state of suffering dependance.

Those who have any object to obtain commonly have recourse to begging;

What more advance can mortals make in sin,
So near perfection, who with blood begin?
Deaf to the calf that lies beneath the knife,
Looks up, and from the butcher begs her life.

DRYDEN.

A kind parent will sometimes rather beseech an undutiful child to lay aside his wicked courses, than plunge him deeper into guilt by an ill-timed exercise of authority; Modesty never rages, never murmurs, never pouts, when it is ill-treated; it pines, it beseeches, it languishes.' STEELE. When we are entreated to do an act of civility, it is a mark of unkindness to be heedless to the wishes of our friends;

I have a wife, whom I protest I love;
I would she were in heav'n, so she could
Entreat some pow'r to change this currish Jew.'

SHAKSPEARE.

Gentlemen in office are perpetually exposed to the solicitations of their friends, to procure for themselves or their connexions places of trust and emolument; 'As money collected by subscription is necessarily received in small sums, Savage was never able to send his poems to the press, but for many years continued his solicitation, and squandered whatever he obtained.' JOHNSON. A slave supplicates his master for pardon, whom he has offended; Savage wrote to Lord Tyrconnel, not in a style of supplication and respect; but of reproach, menace, and contempt.' JOHNSON.

SOLICITATION, IMPORTUNITY. Solicitation (v. To beg) is general; importunity, from the Latin importunus, or in and portus, signifying a running into harbor after the manner of distressed mariners, is a vehement and troublesome form of solicitation. Solicitation is itself indeed that which gives trouble to a certain extent, but in which we may yield to the solicitations of friends, it is not always unreasonable: there may be cases to do that which we have no objection to be obliged to do: but importunity is that solicitation which never ceases to apply for that which it is not agreeable to give. We may sometimes be urgent in our solicitations of a friend to accept some proffered honor; the solicitation however, in this case, although it may even be troublesome, yet it is sweetened by the motive of the action: the importunity of beggars is often a politic means of extorting money from the passenger; Although the devil cannot compel a man to sin, yet he can follow a man with continual solicitations.' SOUTH. The torment of expectation is not easily to be borne, when the heart has no rival engagements to withdraw it from the importunities of desire.' JOHNSON.

PRESSING, URGENT, IMPORTUNATE.

Pressing and urgent, from to press and urge, are applied as qualifying terms, either to persons or things; importunate, from the verb to importune, which probably signifies to wish to get into port, to land at some port, is applied only to persons. In regard to pressing, it is said either of one's demands, one's requests, or one's exhortations; urgent is said of one's solicitations or entreaties; importunate is said of one's begging or applying for. The pressing has more of violence in it; it is supported by force and authority; it is employed in matters of right, and appeals to the understanding; Mr. Gay, whose zeal in your concern is worthy a friend, writes to me in the most pressing terms about it.' POPE. The urgent makes an appeal to one's feelings; it is more persuasive, and is employed in matters of favor; Neither would he have done it at all but at my urgency." SWIFT. The importunate has some of the force, but none of the authority or obligation of the pressing; it

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