RIGHT. lent man shows unquestionable marks of his opulence around him: we speak of affluence to characterize the abundance of the individual; we show our affluence by the style of our living. Riches are apt to betray a man into arrogance. His best companions innocence and health, And his best riches, ignorance of wealth. Addison. Goldsmith. Ridicule has simple laughter in it, satire has a mixture of ill-nature or severity: the former is employed in matters of a shame less or trifling nature; but satire is employed either in personal or grave matters: irony is disguised satire; an ironist seems to praise that which he really means to condemn; sarcasm is bitter and personal satire; all the others may be successfully and properly employed to expose folly and vice but sarcasm, which is the indulgence only of personal resentment, is never justifiable. Nothing is a greater mark of a degenerate and vicious age than the common ridicule which passes on this state of life. Addison. A man resents with more bitterness a satire upon his abilitics than his practice. Hawkesworth. The severity of this sarcasm stung me with intolerable rage. Hawkesworth. When Regan (in King Lear) counsels him to ask his sister forgiveness, he falls on his knees and asks her with a striking kind of irony how such supplicating language as this becometh him. RIDICULOUS, v. Laughable. RIGHT, v. Straight. RIGHT, JUST, PROPER. Johnson. RIGHT, in German recht, Latin rectus, signifies upright, not leaning to one side or the other, standing as it ought. JUST, in Latin justus, from jus law, signifies according to a rule of right. FIT, v. Fit. PROPER, in Latin proprius, signifies belonging to a given rule. Right is here the general term; the 632 RIGHT. others express modes of right. The righ and wrong are defined by the written will of God, or are written in our hearts according to the original constitutions of our nature; the just and unjust are determined by the written laws of men; the fit and proper are determined by the established principles of civil society. Between the right and the wrong there are no gradations: a thing cannot be more right or more wrong: whatever is right is not wrong, and whatever is wrong is not right: the just and unjust, proper and improper, fit and unfit, on the contrary, bave various shades and degrees that are not so easily definable by any forms of speech or written rules. The right and wrong depend upon no circumstances; what is once right or wrong is always right or wrong, but the just or unjust, proper or improper, are relatively so according to the circumstances of the case; it is a just rule for every man to have that which is his own: but what is just to the individual may be unjust to society. It is proper for every man to take charge of his own concerns; but it would be improper for a man, in an unsound state of mind, to undertake such a charge. The right and the wrong are often beyond the reach of our faculties to discern; but the just, fit, and proper, are always to be distinguished sufficiently to be observed. Right is applicable to all matters, important or otherwise: just is employed only in matters of essential interest; proper is rather applicable to the minor concerns of life. Every thing that is done may be characterized as right or wrong: every thing done to others may be measured by the rule of just or unjust: in our social intercourse, as well as in our private transactions, fitness and propriety must always be consulted. As Christians, we desire to do that which is right in the sight of God and man; as members of civil society we wish to be just in our dealings; as rational and intelligent beings, we wish to do what is fit and proper in every action, however trivial. Hear then, my argument-confess we must RIGHT, CLAIM, PRIVILEGE. RIGHT signifies in this sense what it is right for one to possess, which is in fact a word of large meaning: for since the right and the wrong depend upon indeterminable questions, the right of having is equally indeterminable in some cases with RIPE. every other species of right. A CLAIM (v. To ask for) is a species of right to have that which is in the hands of another: the (right to ask another for it. The PRIVILEGE (v. Privilege) is a species of right peculiar to particular individuals or bodies. Right, in its full ense, is altogether an abstract thing which is independent of human laws and regulat ons; claims and privileges are altogether connected with the establishments of civil society. Liberty, in the general sense, is an un- In ev'ry street a city bard Through all the lane from end to end. Swift. Whence is this pow'r, this fondness of all arts, A thousand bards thy rights disown, An equal privilege to descend. RIGOROUS, v. Austere. RIND, v. Skin. RIPE, MATURE, Jenyns. Swift. RIPE is the English, MATURE the 80 RISE. Latin word; the former has a universal ap-, So to his crowne, she him restor'd againe, Spenser. Th' Athenian sage revolving in his mind TO RISE, v. To arise. TO RISE, ISSUE, EMERGE. Jenyns. To rise may either refer to open or enclosed spaces; issue and emerge have both a reference to some confined body, a thing may either rise in a body, without a body, or out of a body; but it issues and emerges out of a body. A thing may either rise in a a plain or a wood; it issues out of a wood: it may either rise in water or out of the water; it emerges from the water; that which rises out of a thing comes into view by becoming higher in this manner an air balloon might rise out of a wood; but that which issues comes out in a line with the object; horsemen issue from a wood; that which issues comes from the very depths of a thing, and comes as it were out as a part of it; but that which emerges proceeds from the thing in which it has been, as it were, concealed. Hence in the moral application, a person is said to rise in life without a reference to his former condition; but he emerges from obscurity; colour rises in the face; but words issue from the mouth. Ye mists and exhalations that now rise, In honour to the world's great author rise. Milton: Does not the earth quit seores with all the elements 633 : TO ROT, PUTREFY, CORRUPt. Young. THE dissolution of bodies by an internal process is implied by all these terms: but the first two are applied to natural bodies only the last to all bodies natural and moral. ROT is the strongest of all these terms; it denotes the last stage in the progress of dissolution: PUTREFY expresses the progress towards rottenness; and CORRUPTION the commencement. After fruit has arrived at its maturity, or proper state of ripeness, it rots: meat which is kept too long putrefies: there is a tendency in all bodies to corruption; iron and wood corrupt with time; whatever is made or done, or wished by men, is equally liable to be corrupt, or to grow corrupt. Debate destroys despatch, as fruits we see Rot when they hang too long upon the tree. Denham. And draws the copious stream from swampy fens, And grow a fresh, as they had never seene ROTUNDITY, v. Roundness. TO ROVE, v. To wander. ROUGH, V. Abrupt. ROUNDNESS, ROTUNDITY. Spenser. ROUNDNESS and ROTUNDITY both come from the Latin rotundus and rota a wheel, which is the most perfectly round body which is formed: the former term is however applied to all objects in general; the latter only to solid bodies which arc round in all directions; one speaks of the roundness of a circle: the roundness of the moon, the roundness of a tree; but the rotundity of a man's body which projects in a round form in all directions, and the rotundity of a full cheek, or the rotundity of a turnip. Bracelets of pearls gave roundness to her arms. 631 Route is to road as the species to the genus: a route is a circular kind of road; it is chosen as the circuitous direction towards a certain point: the road may be either in a direct or indirect line; the route is always indirect; the route is chosen only by horsemen, or those who go to a considerable distance; the road may be chosen for the shortest distance; the route and road are pursued in their beaten track; the course is often chosen in the unbeaten track: an army or a company go a certain route; foot passengers are seen to take a certain course over fields. Cortes (after his defeat at Mexico) was engaged in deep consultation with his officers, concerning the route which they ought to take in their retreat. Robertson. ROYAL and REGAL, from the Latin rex a king, though of foreign origin, have obtained a more general application than the corresponding English term KINGLY. Royal signifies belonging to a king, in its most general sense; regal, in Latin regalis, signifies appertaining to a king, in its particular application; kingly signifies properly like a king. A royal carriage, a royal reroyal authority, all designate the general and sidence, a royal couple, a royal salute, ordinary appurtenances to a king: regal godignity, denote the peculiar properties of a vernment, regal state, regal power, regal king kingly always implies what is beking; a kingly crown is such as a king coming a king, or after the manner of a is after the manner of a king. ought to wear; a kingly mien, that which He died, and oh! may no reflection shed Its pois'nous venom on the royal dead. Jerusalem combin'd must see My open fault and regal infamy. Scipio, you know how Massanissa bears Prior. Prier. Prior. His kingly post at more than ninety years. Denbon RUPTURE. TO RUB, CHAFE, FRET, GALL. To RUB, through the medium of the northern languages, comes from the Hebrew rup; it is the generic term, expressing simply the act of moving bodies when in contact with each other; to CHAFE, from the French chauffer, and the Latin calfacere, to make hot, signifies to rub a thing until it is heated to FRET, like the word fritter, comes from the Latin frico to rub or crumble, signifying to wear away by rubbing: to GALL, from the noun gall, signifies to make as bitter or painful as gall, that is, to wound by rubbing. Things are rubbed sometimes for purposes of convenience; but they are chafed, fretted, and galled, injuriously: the skin is liable to chafe from any violence; leather will fret from the motion of a carriage; when the skin is once broken, animals will become galled by a continuance of the friction. These terms are likewise used in the moral sense, to denote the actions of things on the mind, where the distinction is clearly kept up: we meet with rubs from the opposing sentiments of others; the angry humours are chafed; the mind is fretted and made sore by the frequent repetition of small troubles and vexations; pride is galled by humiliations and severe degradations. A boy educated at home meets with continual rubs and disappointments (when he comes into the world.) Beattie. Accoutred as we were, we both plung'd in Shakspeare. Swift. SAFE. : from frango to break, denote different kinds To be an enemy, and once to have been a friend, RURAL, RUSTIC. ALTHOUGH both these terms, from the Latin rus country, signify belonging to the country; yet the former is used in a good an indifferent and the latter in a bad or sense. RURAL applies to all country objects except man; it is, therefore, always connected with the charms of nature: RUSTIC applies only to persons or what is personal, in the country, and is, therefore always associated with the want of culture. Rural scenery is always interesting: but the rustic manners of the peasants have fiequently too much that is uncultivated and rude in them to be agreeable: a rural habitation may be fitted for persons in a higher station; but a rustic cottage is adapted only for the poorer inhabitants of the country. Goldsmith. E'en now, methinks, as pondering here I stand, RUSTIC, v. Countryman. RUSTIC, v. Rural, S. Swift. Foul cank'ring rust the hidden treasure frets, SACRAMENT, v. Lord's Supper. Shakspeare. SACRED, v. Holy. RUDE, v. Coarse. SAD, v. Dull. RUDE, v. Impertinent. RUEFUL, v. Piteous. RUGGED, v. Abrupt. RUIN, v. Bane. RUIN, Destruction. RULE, v. Guide. TO RULE, V. To govern. RULE, v. Order. RUPTURE, FRACTURE, FRACTION. RUPTURE, from rumpe to break burst, and FRACTURE or FRACTION, or SAD, v. Mournful. SAFE, SECURE. SAFE, in Latin salvus, comes from the Hebrew salah, to be tranquil. SECURE, v. Certain. Safety implies exemption from harm, or the danger of harm; secure, the exemption from danger; a person may be safe or saved in the midst of a fire, if he be untouched by the fire; but he is, in such a In the sense case, the reverse of secure. of exemption from danger, safely expresses much less than security: we may be safe without using any particular measures; but none can reckon on any degree of secu rily without great precaution: a person inay be very safe on the top of a coach, in the day time; but if he wish to secure 635 himself, at night, from falling off, he must course unless he knows to what end it will be fastened. SAGE, SAGACIOUS, SAPIENT. SAGE and SAGACIOUS are variations from the Latin sagar and sagio, probably from the Persian sag a dog, sagacity being the peculiar property of a dog. SAPIENT is in Latin sapiens, from sapio, which is either from the Greek copos wise, or, in the sense of tasting, from the Hebrew sephah the lip. The first of these terms has a good sense, in application to men, to denote the faculty of discerning immediately, which is the fruit of experience, and very similar to that sagacity in brutes which instinctively perceives the truth of a thing without the deductions of reason; sapient, which has very different meanings in the original, is now employed only in regard to animals which are trained up to particular arts; its use is therefore mostly burlesque. So strange they will appear, but so it happen'd, SAKE, ACCOUNT, reason, purpose, end. THESE terms, all employed adverbially, modify or connect propositions: hence, one says, for his SAKE, on his ACCOUNT, for this REASON, for this PURPOSE, and to this END. Sake, which comes from the word to seek, is mostly said of persons; what is done for a person's sake is the same as because of his seeking or at his desire; one may, however, say, in regard to things, for the sake of good order, implying what good order requires: account is indifferently employed for persons or things; what is done on a person's account is done in his behalf, and for his interest; what is done on account of indisposition is done in consequence of it, the indisposition being the cause: reason, purpose, and end, are applied to things only: we speak of the reason as the thing that justifies: we explain why we do a thing when we say we do it for this or that reason: we speak of the purpose and the end by way of explaining the nature of the thing the propriety of measures cannot be known unless we know the purpose for which they were done; nor will a prudent person be satisfied to follow any lead. salubrious, v. Healthy. TO SALUTE, V. To accost. SALUTE, SALUTATION, GREETING. SALUTE and SALUTATION, from the Latin salus, signifies literally wishing health to a person. GREETING comes from the German grüssen to kiss or salute. Salute respects the thing, and salutation the person giving the salute: a salute may consist either of a word or an action; salutations pass from one friend to another; the salute may be either direct or indirect ; the salutation is always direct and personal: guns are fired by way of a salude; bows are given in the way of a salutation; greeting is a familiar kind of salutation, which may be given vocally or in writing. Strabo tells us he saw the statue of Memnon, which, according to the poets, saluted the morning sun, every day, at its first rising, with a harmonious sound. Pridedus. Josephus makes mention of a Manaken, who had the spirit of prophecy, and one time meeting with Herod among his schoolfellows, greeted him with this salutation, Hail, King of the Jews.' Prideaux. Not only those I nam'd I there shall greet, SANE, v. Sound. SANGUINARY, BLOODY, BLOOD-THIRSTY. SANGUINARY, from sanguis, is employed both in the sense of BLOODY or having blood: BLOOD-THIRSTY, or the thirsting after blood: sanguinary, in the first case, relates only to blood shed, as a sanguinary engagement, or a sanguinary conflict: bloody is used in the familiar application, to denote the simple presence of blood, as a bloody coat, or a bloody sword. In the second case, sanguinary is employed to characterize the tempers of persons only; blood-thirsty to characterize the tempers of persons or animals: the French revolution has given us many specimens how sanguinary men may become who are abandoned to their own furious passions; tigers are by nature the most blood-thirsty of all creatures. They have seen the French rebel against a mild and lawful monarch with more fury than ever any people has been known to rise against the most illegal usurper or the most sanguinary tyrant. Burke. And from the wound, Black bloody drops distill'd upon the ground. Dryden. glut blood-thirsty divinities with human sacrifices. The Peruvians fought not like the Mexicans, to Robertson |