in which it presents matter for fear, 'to apprehend ' has acquired the sense of to regard with fear; yet not so as that this use has excluded its earlier; but it has done so in respect of ' apprehensive,' which has now no other meaning than that of fearful, a meaning once quite foreign to it.

See their odds in death:
Appius died like a Roman gentleman,

And a man both ways knowing; but this slave
Is only sensible of vicious living,

Not apprehensive of a noble death.

WEBSTER, Appius and Virginius, act v. sc. 3.

She, being an handsome, witty, and bold maid, was both apprehensive of the plot, and very active to prosecute it.-FULLER, The Profane State, b. v. c. 5.

My father would oft speak

Your worth and virtue; and as I did grow
More and more apprehensive, I did thirst
To see the man so praised.

BEAUMONT AND FLETCHER, Philaster, act v. sc. I.

ARTIFICIAL, That was 'artificial' once which ARTIFICIALLY. Wrought, or which was wrought, according to the true principles of art. The word has descended into quite a lower sphere of meaning; such, indeed, as the quotation from Bacon shows, it could occupy formerly, though not then exactly the same which it occupies now.

Queen Elizabeth's verses, some extant in the elegant, witty, and artificial book of The Art of English Poetry, are princely as her prose.-BOLTON, Hypercritica.

We, Hermia, like two artificial gods,*

Have with our neelds created both one flower.

SHAKESPEARE, Midsummer Night's Dream, act iii. sc. 2.

* Deabus artificibus similes, as S. WALKER (Criticisms on Shakespeare, vol. i. p. 96) gives it well.

Artillery-Artisan.

II

This is a demonstration that we are not in the right way, that we do not enquire wisely, that our method is not artificial. If men did fall upon the right way, it were impossible that so many learned men should be engaged in contrary parties and opinions.-J. TAYLOR, A Sermon preached before the University of Dublin.

This he did the rather, because having at his coming out of Britain given artificially, for serving his own turn, some hopes in case he obtained the kingdom, to marry Anne, inheritress to the duchy of Britany.-BACON, History of Henry VII.

ARTILLERY. Leaving the perplexed question of the derivation of this word, it will be sufficient to observe, that while it is now only applied to the heavy ordnance of modern warfare, in earlier use any engines for the projecting of missiles, even to the bow and arrows, would have been included under this term.

The Parthians, having all their hope in artillery, overcame the Romans ofter than the Romans them.-ASCHAM, Toxophilus, 1761, p. 106.

So the Philistines, the better to keep the Jews thrall and in subjection, utterly bereaved them of all manner of weapon and artillery, and left them naked.-JEWEL, Reply to Mr. Harding, article xv.

The Gods forbid, quoth he, one shaft of thine

Should be discharged 'gainst that uncourteous knight;
His heart unworthy is, shootress divine,

Of thine artillery to feel the might.

FAIRFAX, Tasso, b. 17, s. 49.

And Jonathan gave his artillery unto his lad, and said unto him, Go, carry them to the city.-1 Sam. xx. 40. Authorized Version.

ARTISAN,)
ARTIST,

Artisan' is no longer either in English or in French used of him who cultivates one of the fine arts, but only those of common life. The fine arts, losing this word, have

ARTFUL.

12

Ascertain.

now claimed artist' for their exclusive property; which yet was far from belonging to them always. An artist' in its earlier acceptation was one who cultivated, not the fine, but the liberal arts. The classical scholar was eminently the 'artist.' 'Artful' did not any more than 'cunning,' which see, imply art which had degenerated into artifice or trick.

He was mightily abashed, and like an honest-minded man yielded the victory unto his adversary, saying withal, Zeuxis hath beguiled poor birds, but Parrhasius hath deceived Zeuxis, a professed artisan.-HOLLAND, Pliny, vol. ii. p. 535.

Rare artisan, whose pencil moves
Not our delights alone, but loves!

WALLER, Lines to Van Dyck.

For then, the bold and coward,

The wise and fool, the artist and unread,

The hard and soft, seem all affined and kin.

SHAKESPEARE, Troilus and Cressida, act i. sc. 3.

Nor would I dissuade any artist well grounded in Aristotle from perusing the most learned works any Romanist hath written in this argument. In other controversies between them and us it is dangerous, I must confess, even for well-grounded artists to begin with their writings, not so in this.-JACKSON, Blasphemous Positions of Jesuits, Preface.

Some will make me the pattern of ignorance for making this Scaliger [Julius] the pattern of the general artist, whose own son Joseph might have been his father in many arts.-FULLER, The Holy State, b. ii. c. 8.

Stupendous pile! not reared by mortal hands;
Whate'er proud Rome or artful Greece beheld,
Or elder Babylon its fame excelled.

POPE, Temple of Fame.

ASCERTAIN. Now to acquire a certain knowledge of a thing, but once to render the thing itself certain. Thus, when Swift wrote a pamphlet having this title, 'A Proposal for correcting, improving, and ascertain

Aspersion-Assassinate.

13

ing the English Tongue,' he did not propose to obtain a subjective certainty of what the English language was, but to give to the language itself an objective certainty and fixedness.

Sometimes an evil or an obnoxious person hath so secured and ascertained a mischief to himself, that he that stays in his company or his traffic must also share in his punishment.-J. TAYLOR, The Return of Prayers..

Success is intended him [the wicked man] only as a curse, as the very greatest of curses, and the readiest way, by hardening him in his sin, to ascertain his destruction. -SOUTH, Sermons, vol. v. p. 286.

ASPERSION. Now only used figuratively, and in an evil sense; being that which one sprinkles on another to spot, stain, or hurt him: but subject to none of these limitations of old.

The book of Job, and many places of the prophets, have great aspersion of natural philosophy.-BACON, Filum Labyrinthi.

No sweet aspersion shall the heavens let fall
To make this contract grow.

SHAKESPEARE, Tempest, act iv. sc. I.

ASSASSINATE. Once used, by Milton at least, as is now the French 'assassiner,' the Italian 'assassinare,' in the sense of to assault, treacherously and with murderous intent, even where the murderous purpose is not accomplished; and then, secondly, to extremely maltreat.

As for the custom that some parents and guardians have of forcing marriages, it will be better to say nothing of such a savage inhumanity, but only thus, that the law which gives not all freedom of divorce to any creature endued with reason, so assassinated, is next in cruelty.-MILTON, The Doctrine and Discipline of Divorce, b. i. c. 12.

14

Assure-Astonish.

Such usage as your honourable lords
Afford me, assassinated and betrayed.

Id. Samson Agonistes.

ASSURE, Used often in our elder writers in the sense of 'to betroth,' or 'to affiance.'

ASSURANCE.

See 'Ensure,' 'Sure.'

King Philip. Young princes, close your hands.
Austria. And your lips too; for I am well assured
That I did so, when I was first assured.

SHAKESPEARE, King John, act ii. sc. 2.

I myself have seen Lollia Paulina, only when she was to go unto a wedding supper, or rather to a feast when the assurance was made, so beset and bedeckt all over with emeralds and pearls. -HOLLAND, Pliny, vol. i. p. 256.

But though few days were before the day of assurance appointed, yet Love, that saw he had a great journey to make in a short time, hasted so himself, that before her word could tie her to Demagoras, her heart hath vowed her to Argalus.-Sir PHILIP SIDNEY, Arcadia, p. 17.

ASTONISH.

6

"To astonish' has now loosened itself altogether from its etymology, 'attonare' and 'attonitus.' The man astonished' can now be hardly said to be thunderstruck,' either in a literal or a figurative sense. But continually in our early literature we shall quite fall below the writer's intention unless we read this meaning into the word.

Stone-still, astonished with this deadly deed,
Stood Collatine and all his lordly crew.

SHAKESPEARE, Lucrece.

The knaves that lay in wait behind rose up and rolled down two huge stones, whereof the one smote the king upon the head, the other astonished his shoulder.-HOLLAND, Livy, p. 1124.

The cramp-fish [the torpedo] knoweth her own force and power, and being herself not benumbed, is able to astonish others.Id. Pliny, vol. i. p. 261.