are terms in familiar use; expect is employed either seriously or otherwise.

A person expects to die, or awaits the hour of his dissolution; he expects a letter, waits for its coming, and looks for it when the post is arrived.

Await indicates the disposition of the mind; wait for the regulation of the outward conduct as well as that of the mind; look for is a species of waiting drawn from the physical action of the eye, and may be figuratively applied to the mind's eye, in which latter sense it is the same as expect.

It is our duty, as well as our interest, to await the severest trials without a murmur;

This said, he sat, and expectation held
His looks suspense, awaiting who appeared
To second, or oppose, or undertake
The perilous attempt. MILTON.

POPE.

Not less resolv'd, Antenor's valiant heir Confronts Achilles, and awaits the war. Prudence requires us to wait patiently for a suitable opportunity, rather than be premature in our attempts to obtain any objects; Wait till thy being shall be unfolded.' BLAIR. When children are too much in

dulged and caressed, they are apt to look for a repetition of caresses at inconvenient seasons; • If you look for a friend, in whose temper there is not to be found the least inequality, you look for a pleasing phantom.' BLAIR. It is in vain to look for or expect happiness from the conjugal state, which is not founded on a cordial and mutual regard; We are not to expect, from our intercourse with others, all that satisfaction which we fondly wish.' BLAIR.

The idea of transferring from one's self to the care of another is common to these terms. What is consigned is either given absolutely away from one's self, or only conditionally for one's own purpose;

And oft I wish, amidst the scene, to find Some spot to real happiness consign'd. GOLDSMITH. What is committed or entrusted is given conditionally. A person consigns his property over to another by a deed in law; a merchant consigns his goods to another, to dispose of them for his advantage; he commits the management of his business to his clerks, and entrusts them with the care of his property.

Consign expresses a more positive measure than commit, but entrusting is more or less positive or important, according to the nature of the thing entrusted. When a child is consigned to the care of another, it is

an unconditional surrender of one's trust into the hands of another;

Atrides, parting for the Trojan war,

Consign'd the youthful consort to his care. POPE. Any person may be committed to the care of another with various limitations; In a very short time Lady Macclesfield removed her son from her sight, by committing him to the care of a poor woman.' JOHNSON (Life of Savage). When a person is entrusted to the care of another, it is both a partial and temporary matter, referring mostly to his personal safety, and that only for a limited time. A parent does most wisely to consign the whole management of his child's education to one individual, in whom he can confide; if he commit it in part only to any one's care, the deficiency in the charge is likely to remain unsupplied; in infancy children must be more or less entrusted to the care of servants, but prudent parents will diminish the frequency of these occasions as much as possible. In this sense the word entrust may be applied to other minor objects. In an extended application of the terms, papers are said to be consigned to an editor of a work for his selection and arrangement. The inspection of any public work is committed to proper officers. A person is entrusted with a secret, but he may also be entrusted with the lives of others, and every thing else which they hold; on the same ground power is entrusted by the Almighty to kings, or, according to republican phraseology, it is entrusted by the commonwealth to the magistrate; Supposing both equal in their natural integrity, I ought in common prudence to fear foul play from an indigent person rather than from one whose circumstances seem to have placed him above the base temptation of money. This reason makes the commonwealth regard her richest subjects as the fittest to be entrusted with her highest employments.' Addison.

Consign and commit are used in a figurative sense. A thing is consigned to destruction, or committed to the flames. Death consigns many to an untimely grave: a writer commits his thoughts to the press; be consigned over to another state, a state of everlastAt the day of general account, good men are then to ing love and charity.' ATTERBURY.

Is my muse controll'd

By servile awe? Born free, and not be bold!
At least I'll dig a hole within the ground,
And to the trusty earth commit the sound. Dryden.

DEPENDANCE, RELIANCE.

Dependance, from the Latin dependo, de and pendo to hang from, signifies literally to rest one's weight by hanging from that which is held; rely, compounded of re and ly or lie, signifies likewise to rest one's weight by lying or hanging back from the object held.

Dependance is the general term; reliance is a species of dependance: we depend either on persons or things; we rely on persons only: dependance serves

for that which is immediate or remote; reliance serves for the future only. We depend upon a person for that which we are obliged to receive or led to expect from him we rely upon a person for that which he has given us reason to expect from him.

Dependance is an outward condition, or the state of external circumstances; reliance is a state of the feelings with regard to others. We depend upon God for all that we have or shall have; A man who uses his best endeavours to live according to the dictates of virtue and right reason has two perpetual sources of cheerfulness, in the consideration of his own nature, and of that Being on whom he has a dependance." ADDISON. We rely upon the word of man for that which he has promised to perform; They afforded a sufficient conviction of this truth, and a firm reliance on the promises contained in it.' ROGERS. We may depend upon a person's coming from a variety of causes; but we rely upon it only in reference to his avowed intention. This latter term may also denote the act of things in the same sense;

The tender twig shoots upward to the skies,
And on the faith of the new sun relies. DRYDEN.

fidelity is a private or personal concern, it depends upon relationships and connexions. A breach of faith is a crime that brings a stain on a nation, for faith ought to be kept even with an enemy. A breach of fidelity attaches disgrace to the individual; for fidelity is due from a subject to a prince, or from a servant to his master, or from married people one to another. No treaty can be made with him who will keep no faith; no confidence can be placed in him who discovers no fidelity. The Danes kept no faith with the English;

The pit resounds with shrieks, a war succeeds
For breach of public faith and unexampled deeds.
DRYDEN.

Fashionable husbands and wives in the present day seem to think there is no fidelity due to each other; "When one hears of negroes who upon the death of their masters hang themselves upon the next tree, who can forbear admiring their fidelity, though it expresses itself in so dreadful a manner?' ADDISON.

FAITHFUL, TRUSTY.

Faithful signifies full of faith or fidelity (v. Faith, fidelity); trusty signifies fit or worthy to be trusted (v. Belief).

Faithful respects the principle altogether; it is suited to all relations and stations, public and private: trusty includes not only the principle, but the mental qualifications in general; it applies to those in whom particular trust is to be placed. It is the part of a Christian to be faithful to all his engagements; it is a particular excellence in a servant to be trusty;

The steeds they left their trusty servants hold. POPE. Faithful is applied in the improper sense to an unconscious agent; trusty may be applied with equal propriety to things as to persons. We may speak of a faithful saying, or a faithful picture; a trusty sword, or a trusty weapon;

What we hear

DISTRUSTFUL, SUSPICIOUS,

DIFFIDENT.

Distrustful signifies full of distrust, or not putting trust in (v. Belief); suspicious signifies having suspicion, from the Latin suspicio, or sub and specio to look at askance, or with a wry mind; diffident, from the Latin diffido or disfido, signifies having no faith.

Distrustful is said either of ourselves or others; suspicious is said only of others; diffident only of ourselves to be distrustful of a person, is to impute no good to him; to be suspicious of a person, is to impute positive evil to him he who is distrustful of another's honor or prudence, will abstain from giving him his confidence; he who is suspicious of another's honesty, will be cautious to have no dealings with him. Distrustful is a particular state of feeling; suspicious an habitual state of feeling: a person is distrustful of another, owing to particular circumstances; he may be suspicious from his natural

temper.

As applied to himself, a person is distrustful of his own powers, to execute an office assigned, or he is generally of a diffident disposition: it is faulty to distrust that in which we ought to trust; there is nothing more criminal than a distrust in Providence, and nothing better than a distrust in our own powers to withstand temptation; Before strangers, Pitt had something of the scholar's timidity and distrust." JOHNSON. Suspicion is justified more or less according to circumstances; but a too great proneness to suspicion is liable to lead us into many acts of injustice towards others; Nature itself, after it has done an injury, will for ever be suspicious, and no man can love the person he suspects.' SOUTH. Diffidence is becoming in youth, so long as it does not check their

laudable exertions; As an actor, Mr. Cunningham obtained little reputation, for his diffidence was too great to be overcome.' JOHNSON.

TO DISTURB, INTERRUPT. Disturb, v. Commotion; interrupt, from the Latin inter and rumpo, signifies to break in between so as to stop the progress.

We may be disturbed either inwardly or outwardly; we are interrupted only outwardly; our minds may be disturbed by disquieting reflections, or we may be disturbed in our rest or in our business by unseemly noises; but we can be interrupted only in our business or pursuits: the disturbance therefore depends upon the character of the person; what disturbs one man will not disturb another: an interruption is however something positive; what interrupts one person will interrupt another the smallest noises may disturb one who is in bad health; illness or the visits of friends will interrupt a person in any of his business. The same distinction exists between these words when applied to things as to persons: whatever is put out of its order or proper condition is disturbed; thus water which is put into motion from a state of rest is disturbed;

If aught disturb the tenour of his breast,

"Tis but the wish to strike before the rest. POPE.

Whatever is stopped in the evenness or regularity of its course is interrupted; thus water which is turned out of its ordinary channel is interrupted; The foresight of the hour of death would continually interrupt the course of human affairs.' BLAIR.

COMMOTION, DISTURBANCE.

Commotion, compounded of com or cum and motion, expresses naturally a motion of several together; disturbance signifies the state of disturbing or being disturbed (v. To trouble).

There is mostly a commotion where there is a disturbance; but there is frequently no disturbance where there is a commotion: commotion respects the physical movement; disturbance the mental agitation. Commotion is said only of large bodies of men, and is occasioned only by something extraordinary; disturbbe said of a few, or even of a single individual: whatever occasions a bustle, awakens general inquiry, and sets people or things in motion, excites a commotion;

ance may

wonderful phenomenon, or unusually interesting intelligence, may throw the public into a commotion ; Nothing can be more absurd than that perpetual contest for wealth which keeps the world in commotion.' JOHNSON. Drunkenness is a common cause of disturbances in the streets or in families: civil commotions are above all others the most to be dreaded; they are attended with disturbances general and partial.

TO INCONVENIENCE, ANNOY, MOLEST. To inconvenience is to make not convenient; to

annoy, from the Latin noceo to hurt, is to do some hurt to; to molest, from the Latin moles a mass or weight, signifies to press with a weight.

We inconvenience in small matters, or by omitting such things as might be convenient; we annoy or molest by doing that which is positively painful: we are inconvenienced by a person's absence; we are annoyed by his presence if he renders himself offensive: we are inconvenienced by what is temporary; we are annoyed by that which is either temporary or durable; we are molested by that which is weighty and oppressive: we are inconvenienced simply in regard to our circumstances; we are annoyed mostly in regard to our corporeal feelings; we are molested mostly in regard to our minds: the removal of a seat or a book may inconvenience one who is engaged in business; 'I have often been tempted to inquire what happiness is to be gained, or what inconvenience to be avoided, by this stated recession from the town in the summer season.' JOHNSON. The buzzing of a fly, or the stinging of a gnat, may annoy;

Against the capitol I met a lion,

Who glar'd upon me, and went surly by,
Without annoying me. SHAKSPEARE.

The impertinent freedom, or the rude insults of illdisposed persons, may molest;

See all with skill acquire their daily food,
Produce their tender progeny and feed,
With care parental, whilst that care they need,
In these lov'd offices completely blest,

No hopes beyond them, nor vain fears molest. JENYNS.

COMMODIOUS, CONVENIENT,

SUITABLE.

Commodious, from the Latin commodus, or con and modus, according to the measure and degree required; convenient, from the Latin conveniens, participle of con and venio to come together, signifies that which comes together with something else as it ought.

Both these terms convey the idea of what is calculated for the pleasure of a person. Commodious regards the physical condition, and convenience the circumstances or mental feelings;

Within an ancient forest's ample verge,

There stands a lonely, but a healthful dwelling,
Built for convenience and the use of life. ROWE.

6

That is commodious which suits one's bodily ease; that is convenient which suits one's purpose. A house, or a chair, is commodious; Such a place cannot be commodious to live in, for being so near the moon, it had been too near the sun.' RALEGH. A time, an opportunity, a season, or the arrival of any person, is convenient. A noise incommodes; the staying or going of a person may inconvenience. A person wishes to sit commodiously, and to be conveniently situated for witnessing any spectacle.

Convenient regards the circumstances of the individual; suitable (v. Conformable) respects the established opinions of mankind, and is closely connected with moral propriety: nothing is convenient which does not favour one's purpose: nothing is suitable which does not suit the person, place, and thing: whoever has any thing to ask of another must take a convenient opportunity in order to ensure success; If any man think it convenient to seem good, let him be so indeed, and then his goodness will appear to every body's satisfaction.' TILLOTSON. The address of a suitor on such an occasion would be unsuitvery

able, if he affected to claim as a right what he ought to solicit as a favor; Pleasure in general is the consequent apprehension of a suitable object, suitably applied to a rightly disposed faculty.' SOUTH.

NECESSARY, EXPEDIENT, ESSENTIAL,

REQUISITE.

Necessary (v. Necessity), from the Latin necesse and ne cedo, signifies not to be departed from; expedient signifies belonging to, or forming a part of, expedition; essential, containing that essence or property which cannot be omitted; requisite, i. e. literally required (v. To demand).

Necessary is a general and indefinite term; things may be necessary in the course of nature; it is necessary for all men once to die; they may be necessary according to the circumstances of the case, or our views of necessity; in this manner we conceive it necessary to call upon a person.

Expedient, essential, and requisite, are modes of relative necessity: the expedience of a thing is a matter of discretion and calculation, and, therefore, not so self-evidently necessary as many things which we so denominate; One tells me he thinks it absolutely necessary for women to have true notions of right and equity.' ADDISON. It may be expedient for a person to consult another, or it may not, according as circumstances may present themselves; It is highly expedient that men should, by some settled scheme of duties, be rescued from the tyranny of caprice.' JOHNSON. The requisite and the essential are more obviously necessary than the expedient; but the former is less so than the latter what is requisite may be requisite only in part or entirely; it may be requisite to complete a thing when begun, but not to begin it; the essential, on the contrary, is that which

constitutes the essence, and without which a thing cannot exist. It is requisite for one who will have a good library to select only the best authors; exercise is essential for the preservation of good health. In all matters of dispute it is expedient to be guided by some impartial judge; it is requisite for every member of the community to contribute his share to the public expenditure as far as he is able; It is not enough to say that faith and piety, joined with active virtue, constitute the requisite preparation for heaven: they in truth begin the enjoyment of heaven.' BLAIR. It is essential to a teacher, particularly a spiritual teacher, to know more than those he teaches; The English do not consider their church establishment as convenient, but as essential to their state.' BURKE.

EXPEDIENT, FIT.

Expedient, from the Latin expedio to get in readiness for a given occasion, supposes a certain degree of necessity from circumstances; fit (v. Fit) i. e. made for the purpose, signifies simply an agreement with, or suitability to, the circumstances: what is expedient must be fit, because it is called for; what is fit need not be expedient, for it may not be required. The expediency of a thing depends altogether upon the outward circumstances; the fitness is determined by a moral rule: it is imprudent not to do that which is expedient; it is disgraceful to do that which is unfit: it is expedient for him who wishes to prepare for death, occasionally to take an account of his life; To far the greater number it is highly expedient that they should by some settled scheme of duties be rescued from the tyranny of caprice.' JOHNSON. It is not fit for him who is about to die to dwell with anxiety on the things

of this life;

6

OCCASION, OPPORTUNITY.

Occasion, in Latin occasio, from oc or ob and cado to fall, signifies that which falls in the way so as to produce some change; opportunity, in Latin opportunitas, from opportunus fit, signifies the thing that happens fit for the purpose.

These terms are applied to the events of life; but the occasion is that which determines our conduct, and leaves us no choice; it amounts to a degree of necessity: the opportunity is that which invites to action; it tempts us to embrace the moment for taking the step. We do things, therefore, as the occasion requires, or as the opportunity offers. There are many occasions on which a man is called upon to uphold his opinions. There are but few opportunities for men in general to distinguish themselves. The occasion obtrudes upon us; the opportunity is what we seek or

desire. On particular occasions it is necessary for a commander to be severe; Waller preserved and won his life from those who were most resolved to take it, and in an occasion in which he ought to have been ambitious to have lost it (to lose it).' CLARENDON. A man of an humane disposition will profit by every opportunity to show his lenity to offenders; Every man is obliged by the Supreme Maker of the universe to improve all the opportunities of good which are afforded him.' JOHNSON.

OCCASIONAL, CASUAL.

These are both opposed to what is fixed or stated; but occasional carries with it more the idea of unfrequency, and casual that of unfixedness, or the absence of all design.

A minister is termed an occasional preacher, who preaches only on certain occasions; his preaching at a particular place, or a certain day may be casual. Our acts of charity may be occasional; but they ought not to be casual; The beneficence of the Roman emperors and consuls was merely occasional.' JOHNSON.

What wonder if so near

Looks intervene, and smiles, or object new, Casual discourse draws on. MILTON.

TO ADD, JOIN, UNITE, COALESCE. Add, in Latin addo, compounded of ad and do, signifies to put to an object; join, in French joindre, Latin jungo, comes from jugum a yoke, and the Greek túy to yoke, signifying to bring into close contact; unite, in Latin unitus, participle of unio, from unus one, implies to make into one; coalesce, in Latin coalesco, compounded of co or con, and alesco for cresco, signifies to grow or form one's self together.

We add by affixing a part of one thing to another, so as to make one whole; we join by attaching one whole to another, so that they may adhere in part; we unite by putting one thing to another, so that all their parts may adhere to each other; things coalesce by coming into an entire cohesion of all their parts.

Adding is either a corporeal or spiritual action; joining is mostly said of corporeal objects; uniting and coalescing of spiritual objects. We add a wing to a house by a mechanical process, or we add quantities together by calculation;

Now, best of kings, since you propose to send
Such bounteous presents to your Trojan friend,
Add yet a greater at our joint request,

One which he values more than all the rest;

Give him the fair Lavinia for his bride. DRYDEN.

We join two houses together, or two armies, by placing them on the same spot; The several great bodies which compose the solar system are kept from joining together at the common centre of gravity by the rectilinear motions the Author of nature has impressed on each of them.' BERKELEY. People are united who are bound to each other by similarity of opinion, sentiment, condition, or circumstances; 'Two Englishmen meeting at Rome or Constantinople soon run into familiarity. And in China or Japan, Europeans would think their being so a sufficient reason for their uniting in particular converse.' BERKELEY. Parties coalesce when they agree to lay aside their leading distinctions of opinion, so as to co-operate;

The Danes had been established during a longer period in England than in France; and though the similarity of their original language to that of the Saxons invited them to a more early coalition with the natives, they had found as yet so little example of civilized manners among the English, that they retained all their ancient ferocity.' HUME.

Nothing can be added without some agent to perform the act of adding; but things may be joined by casually coming in contact; and things will unite of themselves which have an aptitude to accordance; coalition is that species of union which arises mostly from external agency. The addition of quantities produces vast sums; the junction of streams forms great rivers; the union of families or states constitutes their principal strength; by the coalition of sounds, diphthongs are formed. Bodies are enlarged by the addition of other bodies; people are sometimes joined in matrimony who are not united in affection; no two things can coalesce, between which there is an essential difference, or the slightest discordance.

union, to division; coalition, to distinction. Addition is opposed to subtraction; junction and union, to division; coalition, to distinction.

TO CONNECT, COMBINE, UNITE. The idea of being put together is common to these terms, but with different degrees of proximity. To