Back from pursuit thy pow'rs, with loud acclaim, Thee only extoll'd.— Milton's Paradise Lost

LECTURE II.

to " disclaim" is to deny that right. A " dis­claimer" in law is a plea containing an express denial or refusal. It is a putting away, or a disavowal of a claim set up by another. To " exclaim" is to call out; and an " exclamation" is a vehement outcry. To " proclaim" any fact or opinion, is to call it out before, or in the pre­sence of, the public at large; and a " proclama­tion" is that which the cryer calls out before the people. The simple meaning of " reclaim " is to call bach, to recall; and it is applied metaphori­cally to bringing back from an ill condition or evil courses; as unprofitable land, or a bad cha­racter, is said to be " reclaimed." It is also con­structively used to signify to restore/or to recover anything that had been lost, or alienated from one's possession. The word is sometimes applied to wild animals, in the sense of bringing them from a wild to a tame or manageable state.*

Claudo, to shut, with its participle clausus, shut or closed, has supplied us with many words. A " clause" in a lease or other deed, is that which incloses or contains a full statement of a condition or covenant; and so it is applied to sentences, written or spoken, to describe such a portion of a paragraph as is to be construed together, " including" a complete sense or mean-

* ".... Upon his fist he bore

An eagle well reclaim'd." — Dryden's Knight's Tale.

LECTURE II.

ing. Of the same origin are the words " close" and " closeness;" and a " closet," where goods are shut up. To " conclude" is to bring close toge­ther, to shut up together.* This word is also used in a metaphorical sense, as is the noun "con­clusion," and the adjective and adverb, " conclu­sive" and " conclusively," to express a fixed and settled judgment, on a matter decided by bringing together the premises and drawing the inference or " conclusion" therefrom. Dr. Johnson remarks that in Shakspeare† it seems to signify silence, confinement of the thoughts;—as in modern slang language being " shut up." We have also from this Latin verb, " disclose," that is, to " unclose," or open; to separate things that had been in close contact together. " Enclose," with its noun "enclosure," (also, and more properly " inclose" and " inclosure," as we always write " include," from the same root,) both signifying to close in, and that which is closed in on all sides or surrounded. On the other hand, we have " exclude," to shut out, or rather to thrust out of or from. " Exclusion" is the act of shutting out, and " exclusive" is debarring of participation, and is also opposed to " inclusive," as not being

• " God hath concluded them all in unbelief, that he might have mercy upon all."— Romans xi. 32.

† " Your wife Octavia, with her modest eyes And still conclusion, shall acquire an honour, Demurring upon me."— Antony and Cleopatra,

LECTURE II. 45

taken into account. To " preclude" is to shut before one, or beforehand, and means to hinder. A " recluse" is one who shuts himself up again, and " recloses" the door of his cell in order to " seclude" or shut himself apart from the world, in what is therefore called a state of " seclusion."

Clino, to bend, or lie down, gives us " clinic," a word not in general use, describing one that is confined to his bed, a bedridden person, and so said to be in a " clinical" condition. Of words better known we have from this verb, " decline" and " declension," signifying a state of bending downwards. To " decline" an invitation, or any proposal, is to bend away from it, and thus to manifest a " disinclination" to it, as " inclining" means bending towards a thing, that is, approving of it; the word " incline" is also used, literally, to describe a bending of the body,* and an " inclined plane" is a surface which gradually ascends or descends; " declivity" is applied only to that which descends. When a person leans backward, or against any support, he is said to " recline."

Colo, to till or cultivate, supplies our language with the word " colony," and its derivatives, " colonial," belonging to a colony, with " colo­nize," and " colonist," all having reference to the tilling or cultivating of land previously neglected.

* " With due respect my body I inclin'd,

As to some being of superior kind."— Dryden.

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