Subscription to articles of religion, though no more than a declaration of the subscribers' assent, may properly enough be considered in connection with the subject of oaths, because it is governed by the same rule of interpretations. Paley. Moral Philosophy, b. iii. c. 22.

Fr. Assertion; It. Asserzione; Lat. Assertum, past part. of Asserere, (Ad-serere, to knit, to join.)

ASSERT. ASSERTA'CION. ASSERTION. ASSERTIVE. ASSERTIVELY. To join, or add to; to join, ASSERTOR. or add as a cause, as a reason; A'SSERTORY. to affirm, to maintain, to vindicate. See the quotation from Tooke.

And hole bokes would it hold, both ye confuting of theirs, and vnto them the assertacion of our owne, specially for yt thei receiue not our scripture, and betwene the and vs nothig comune to groud vpon but reason.

Sir T. More. Workes, p. 141.

And, therfore, while he doth but tel vs and proue it not, and so vnder proppeth his assercion wt it self: he sheweth himself as wise, as one that lest hys rotten house should fall, wold go about to take down ye rofe, and pull vp ye groŭdsel to vndershore the sides with the same.

Id. Ib. p. 473.

Read it interrogatively, and it is as strong for Soto and the Dominicans; if it be read assertively, for Catherine and the Jesuits.-Bp. Bedel. Letters, p. 403.

-That tongue

Inspir'd with contradiction durst oppose

A third part of the gods, in synod met

Thir deities to assert.-Milton. Paradise Lost, b. vi.

[We all acknowledge that the whole Church of God kept the faith intire, and transmitted faithfully to after ages the whole faith.] Well what says he to this principle? He says, this principle as to the positive part is good, and assertive of tradition.-Bp. Taylor. Dissuas. from Popery,pt.ii. Introd.

If the very voice of nature did not so sufficiently confute thee, that even thine own most eminent heathens have herein taken part against thee, living and dying strong assertors of the soul's immortality.

Id. Temptations Repelled, Dec. 1. T. 4. We have not to do here with a promissory oath, the obligation whereof is for another inquisition: it is the assertory oath, that is now under our hand; which the great God, by whom we swear, hath ordained to be an end of controversies. Id. Cases of Conscience, Dec. 2. c. 5. But whether each of them be according to the kinds of oaths divided by the schoolmen, one assertory, the other promissory, to which some add a third, comminatory, is to me unknown.-Fuller. Worthies. Cornwall.

Now nothing is more shameful and unworthy a natural philosopher than to assert any thing to be done without a cause, or to give no reason of it.-Ray. On the Creation.

I can hardly believe any one will assert, that a parcel of mere matter left altogether to itself, could ever of itself begin to move. If there is any such bold assertor, let him fix his eyes upon some lump of matter, ex. gr. a stone, piece of timber, or a clod clear'd of all animals, and peruse it well. Wollaston. Religion of Nature, s. 5. The fourth awarded lot (for he had fourth Arriv'd) Meriones asserted next, The golden talents.-Cowper. Homer. Iliad, b. xxiii.

For the verb does not denote any time; nor does it imply any assertion. No single word can. Till one single thing can be found to be couple, one single word cannot make an ad-sertion, or an adfirmation: for there is joining in that operation and there can be no junction of one thing. Tooke, vol. ii. p. 432. Among the assertors of regal authority, I never fail'd to declaim with republican warmth upon the original charter of universal liberty, the corruption of courts, and the folly of voluntary submission to those whom nature has levelled with ourselves.-Johnson. Rambler, No. 95.

But Pirithous reaching out his hand first to Theseus, said unto him; I make your self judge of the damage you have sustained by my invasion, and with all my heart I will make such satisfaction, as it shall please you to assess it at. North. Plutarch, p. 12.

For he devised and ordained the cense, to wit, the assess

ing, and taxation of the citizens: a thing most profitable to

that state and government, which was like, in time to come, to grow so mightie.-Holland. Livy, p. 30.

Writynges wer sent to al shires, to certifie the names of menne of fourtie pounde, to receiue the ordre of knighthood, or els to make a fine: the assessement of whiche fines, were appoynted to Thomas Cromwell, Master of the Kynge's Juell house.-Hall. Hen. VIII. an. 24.

ASSIDUATE. ASSIDUVITY. Assi'DUOUS. AssIDUOUSLY.

Fr. Assiduité, Assidu; It. Assiduita; Sp. Assiduo; Lat. Assiduus, from Assidere, to sit at to continue sitting.

Hence

Settled, continual, constant, unceasing, frequent, repeated; unceasingly diligent.

Then the cardynall came agayn vnto the duke, and brought with hym dyuerse doctours of dyuynyte and other, which made vnto hym assiduat labour for mercy to be shewyd vnto the towne, and to the inhabytauntys of the same. Pabyan. Car. IV. an. 14.

He [Lord Willoughby] could not brook the obsequiousness and assiduity of the court, and was wont to say, "that he was not one of the reptiliæ, which could creep on the ground."-Fuller. Worthies. Lincolnshire.

The mind that lies fallow but a single day, sprouts up in follies that are only to be killed by a constant and assiduous culture. Spectator, No. 10.

A scholar is industrious, who doth assiduously bend his mind to study for getting knowledge.

Barrow. vol. iii. Ser. 20
Often as she mounts

Or quits the car, his arm hier weight sustains
With trembling pleasure. His assiduous hand
From purest fountains wafts the living flood.
Glover. Leonidas, b. viii.

ASSIEGE, v. Į Fr. Assieger; It. Assediare,
ASSIE GE, n. to sit before; Lat. Ad-sedere.
To sit down (before a town, fortress.)
The common word now in use is Besiege.
Kyng Arture and ys poer aseged hym wythoute.
R. Gloucester, p. 184.
Swiche wondring was ther on this hors of bras,
That sin the gret assege of Troye was,
Ther as men wondred on an hors also,
Ne was ther swiche a wondring, as was tho.

Chaucer. The Squiere's 1 ale, v 10,620.

Nor does want of memory, or slowness of perception, appear in persons of a middle age, but from some assignable cause that discomposes the organ.

Reflections of Mr. Clarke's Second Defence.

And Glodeside he loueth hote,

And she to make hym more assote, Hir loue graunteth

Id. Ib.

But fynally, whan the men in Englande, and specyally the londoners, sawe howe that the kynge was so asolted on this syr Hugh Spenser, they prouyded for a remedy.

Berners. Froissart. Chron. vol. ii. c. 237. But when he saw the blazing beauties beame, Which with rare light his boat did beautifie, He marueild more, and thought he yet did dreame, Not well awak't, or that some extasie Assotted had his sense, or dazed was his eye.

Spenser. Faerie Queene, b. iii. c. 8.

ASSUAGE.
ASSUA'GEMENT.
ASSUA'SIVE.

Fr. Assouager or Assouvager;
Low Lat. Adsuaviare; from
the Lat. Suavis, sweet. Skin-
ner prefers the A. S. Swæs-an, Aswæs-ian;
To soothe, to mitigate, to calm, to tranquillize.
William the Conquerour changis his wikked wille,
Out of his first errour, repentis of his ille,
And of his crueltes he gynnes for to assuage.

For it is thing most amerous Most delitable and sauerous

For to aswage a mannes sorow To sene his lady by the morrow.

Chaucer. The Rom. of the Rose. And faine thei wolde do vengeance Upon Florent, but remembrance That thei toke of his worthines Of knighthode, and of gentilnes, And how he stode of cosinage To th' emperour, made them assuage, And durst not slaine hym for feare.-Gower. Con. A. b. i.

And therfore in so doubtfull and perillous a case, they held off fight, and kept themselves within their campe, if haply time and space would assuage their anger. Holland. Livy, p. 74.

Tell me, when shall these wearie woes haue end, Or shall their ruthlesse torment neuer cease; But all my daies in pining languor spend, Without hope of asswagement or release.

The rest Was broiled and roasted for the future feast. The chief invited guests were set around: And hunger first asswag'd, the bowls were crown'd, Which in deep draughts, their cares and labours drown'd. Dryden. Ovid. Met. b. xii. If in the breast tumultuous joys arise Musick her soft assuasive voice applies.

Pope. St. Cecilia's Day. But to assuage Th' impatient fervour which it first conceives Within its reeking bosom, threat'ning death To his young hopes, requires discreet delay. Cowper. Task, b. iii.

Patroclus sat contentedly beside
Eurypylus, with many a pleasant theme
Soothing the gen'rous warrior, and his wound
Sprinkling with drugs assuasive of his pains.

ASSUBJUGATE. and jugum, a yoke. to assubject.

Spenser, Sonnet 36.

To bring under the yoke.

Id. Homer. Iliad, b. xv. From ad, to; sub, under; Cotgrave has As-soubjecter,

No, this thrice worthy and right valiant lord,
Must not so staule his palmes, nobly acquir'd,
Nor by my will assubiugate his merit,

As amply titled as Achilles is, by going to Achilles. Shakespeare. Troil. & Cress. Act ii. sc. 3. ASSUEFACTION. Fr. Assuefaction, from A'SSUETUDE. Š Lat. Assuefact-um, past part. of Assuefacere, to make usual, or customary, to accustom; from ad, and sueo (ab usu, quasi usu eo, Vossius), to use, and facere, to make. Use, habit, custom.

And we see that assuetude of things hurtful doth make them loose their force to hurt; as poison, which with use some have brought themselves to brook.

Bacon. Nat. Hist. § 67. attained an ability to carry it being a bull, is a witty conceit, The received story of Milo, who by daily lifting a calf, and handsomly sets forth the efficacy of assuefaction. Brown. Vulgar Errours, b. vii. c. 18.

For so (to say nothing of such as by assuefaction have made the rankest poysons their most familiar diet) we read that Epimenides continu'd fifty years in a damp cave, the Eremites dwelt in dens, and divers live now in the fens. Evelyn. Fumifugium. Custome and studies efform the soul like wax, and by assuefaction introduce a nature.

Bp. Taylor. On Repentance, c. 5. s. 3. The power of assuefaction in other cases, made me think it very well worth trying what it would do in respiration. Boyle. Works, vol. iii. p. 380.

Out of this type sodainly issued out of a cloude a fayre lady richely apparelled, and then al the minstrels whiche wer in the pagiant plaied & the angels sang, & sodainly againe she was assumpted into the cloud.

Hall. Hen. VIII. an. 14.

Lette vs nowe remember yt this is the daye of the assumpcion of our blessyd Lady, and truste we in her, that she wyll helpe vs agayne them that ben put out of holy Churche by cursynge.-Fabyan. Phil. III. an. 1283.

Nor shall thou by descending to assume
Man's nature, less'n nor degrade thine own.
Milton. Paradise Lost, b. iii.
His sonne,
(By all these violent arguments; not wonne
To credit him his father) did deny

His kinde assumpt.-Chapman. Homer. Odyssey, b. xvi. Many positions there are, but proofs of them you offer none. The sum of all your assumpts, collected by yourself is this.-Chillingworth. Religion of Protestants, c. 1. p. 1.

Pompey, Crassus, and Cæsar, had found the sweets of arbitrary power; and each being a check to the others' growth, struck up a false friendship amongst themselves, and divided the government betwixt them, which none of them was able to assume alone.-Dryden. Ded. to the Eneis.

I cannot but think that the very great scorn and contempt wherewith Mr. T. hath thought fit to treat them, is a very great assuming to himself, and undervaluing the judgment of the greatest men, both of the ancient and modern church. Dr. Clarke. Reflections, &c. on Amyntor.

Nothing has been more common in all ages, than to see faction and ambition assuming the mask of religion, and pretending to fight in the cause of God and his church, when they had in reality nothing else in view but to create confusion or establish tyranny.-Porteus, vol. i. Ser. 12.

The unities of time and place arise evidently from false assumptions, and, by circumscribing the extent of the drama, lessen its variety.-Johnson. Proposals for, &c. Shakespeare. ASSUMENT. Lat. Assuere, from ad and suere, to stitch or tack on.

This assument or addition, Dr. Marshall says he never could find any where but in this Anglo-Saxonic translation, and that very ancient Greek and Latin M.S. copy of Beza's. Lewis. English Trans. of the Bible.

O noble markis, your humanitee
Assureth us and yeveth us hardinesse,
As oft as time is of necessitee,
That we to you mow tell our hevinesse.

Chaucer. The Clerke's Tale, v. 7909.
Therefore, as frend fullich in me assure
And tell me platte, what is thine encheson
And finall cause of wo, that ye endure.-Id. Troilus, b. i.
Wandring in this place, as in a wildernesse
No comfort haue I ne yet assuraunce.

Id. The Lament. of Marie Mage. And eche of hem assureth other, To helpe as to his owne brother, To vengen hem of thilke oultrage,

And wynne ayene her heritage.-Gower. Con. A. b. iii. Wherefore this I assure you, what so euer is don by worde or deed, shall be remitted vnto men, so that they repent them.-Udal. Mathew, c. 12.

A perfect, strog, and earnest assurance had hee [John] of the Lord by a spirituall premonishment, that ye vnuariable decrees of his set iudgements should be fulfilled at their tymes of him appoynted.

Bale. Image of both Churches, pt. ii. For with indifferent eyes myself can well discerne, How some to guide a ship in stormes seke for to take the sterne ;

Whose practise if were proved in calme to stere a barge, Assuredly beleue it well, it were to great a charge. Surrey. An Answere, &c.

But suche persones as utterly mistrustyng their owne assurednesse, that is to saie, al worldly ayde and maintenaunce of mã, dooe wholly depende of God's defense and helpe: suche and none others are hable to stande sure. Udal. Luhe, c. 22. For, till I haue acquit your captive knight, Assure yourselfe, I will you not forsake. His cheerful words reviv'd hir cheerless spright. Spenser. Faerie Queene, b. i. e, 7. This drudge or diuiner layd claime to mee, call'd mee Dromio, swore I was assur'd to her.

Shakespeare. Comedy of Errours, Act iii. sc. 2.

Pag. He said, Sir, you should procure him better assurance then Bardolfe: he wold not take his bond and yours, he lik'd not the security.-Id. 2 Part Hen. IV. Act i. sc. 2.

On the stern or part steered; See STERN, and ASTERTE.

ASTERN. steeren, stern. Having left this strait a stern, we seemed to be come out of a river of two leagues broad, into a large and main sea. The World encompassed by Sir F. Drake, 1578.

The gally gives her side, and turns her prow; While those astern descending down the steep, Thro' gaping waves behold the boiling deep. Dryden. Virgil. Eneis, b. i. But at seven in the evening, finding we did not near the chase, and that the Wager was very far a-stern, we shortened sat, and made a signal for the cruizers to join the squadron. Anson. Voyage, b. i. c. 3. ASTERTE. A. S. Astirian, to move, to stir. Past part. Astered, Astert.

To move, to get away, to escape. and ASTERN.

See START,

Though that I no wepin have in this place,
Bat out of prisoun am asterte by grace,

I drede nought, that eyther thou shalt die,

Or thou ne shalt not loven Emelie.
Chese which thou wolt, for thou shalt not asterte.
Chaucer. The Knightes Tale, v. 1597.

Till that the high kyng of kynges,
Which seeth and knoweth all thynges,
Whose eie maie nothyng asterte
The privitees of man's herte,
The speken and sowne in his ere,

As though the loude wyndes were.-Gower, Con. 4. b. i.

No wonder is though that she be astoned,
To see so gret a gest come in that place,
She never was to non swiche gestes woned,
For which she loked with ful pale face.

Chaucer. The Clerkes Tale, v. 8192.
And with that word, the arwes in the cas
Of the goddesse clatteren fast and ring,
And forth she went, and made a vanishing,
For which this Emilie astonied was,
And sayde; what amounteth this, alas!

Id. The Knightes Tale, v. 2363.

Dryden. Virgil, Georg. 4.

His [Satan's] roaming upon the frontiers of the creation between that mass of matter, which was wrought into a world, and that shapeless unform'd heap of materials, which still lay in choas and confusion, strikes the imagination with something astonishingly great and wild.

Spectator, No. 315.

At first, heard solemn thro' the verge of heaven
The tempest growls; but as it nearer comes
And rolls its awful burden on the wind,
The lightnings flash a larger curve, and more
The noise astounds.

Thomson. Summer.

A'STRAL. Astrum; Gr. Aσrηp, a star. Starry.

He [Hor. Cocles] so bent his sword and target in their verie faces, resolute to encounter with them hand to hand. that even with his wonderfull hardines and incredible courage he astonied and amazed his enemies.

ASTRAUGHT. Holland. Livy, p. 50. tracted; terrified. Adam, soon as he heard The fatal trespass don by Eve, amaz'd, Astonied stood and blank, while horror chill Ran through his veins, and all his joynts relax'd. Millon. Paradise Lost, b. ix.

Whatever hurt befalls them in these astral bodies, as the Paraclesians love to call them, the same is inflicted upon their terrestrial.-H. More. Immort. of the Soul, b. iii. c. 12.

This latter sort of infidels have often admitted those matters of fact, which we Christians call miracles, and yet have endeavoured to solve them by astral operations, and other ways not here to be specified.

Boyle. Works, vol. v. p. 161. See To STRANGLE.

ASTRANGLE.

"I wene," (quod I) "right little grace to me she deliuered. Certes it was hard grace, it hath nigh me astrangled. Chaucer. The Test. of Loue, b. iii. Distraught (qv.) or dis

[Caramandus] saw in his slepe the likenesse of a woma with a grim and terrible contenance, which saide she was a goddesse; at her syght he was so astraught [exterritus], that of his own mynde vnrequested, he made peace with ye Massiliens.-Goldyng. Justine, fol. 179.

A'STROIT. Gr. Aarpov, a star. A stone sparkling like a star.

As touching astroites, manie make great account of it; and such as have written more diligently thereof, doe report, that Zoroaster has highly commended it, and told wonders thereof in art magicke.-Holland. Plinie, b. xxxvii. c. 9.

The little astroits doubtful race,

For starry rays, and pencil'd shades admir'd.
Jago. Edge Hill, b. iv.
Fr. Astrolabe; It. Astro-
labio; Sp. Astrolabio, from
AσTηp, a star, and λaußaveiv, to take.

A'STROLABE.
ASTRO'LABY.

A flat round instrument, whereby the several motions of heavenly bodies, and the length, height, and breadth of any other thing, may be discerned and found out, (Cotgrave.)

The firste partye of this treatise shall rehearse the figures, and the members of thine astrolaby, bycause that thou shalt haue the greater knowing of thyne owne instrument. Chaucer, Astrolabie.

She sende for hym, and he came, With hym his astrolabe he name; With pointes and circles merueilous, Whiche was of fine gold precious.-Gower. Con. A. b. vi. And herein were the Portugals very prosperous, one of whose princes brought first into use the astrolabe, and tables of declination, with other arithmetical and astronomical rules applicable to navigation.-Evelyn. Navigation, § 29. Liv'd Tycho now, struck with this ray which shone More bright i' th' morn, than others beam at noon, He'd take his astrolabe, and seek out here What new star 'twas did gild our hemisphere. Dryden. On the Death of Lord Hastings.

On which was written
Many rare pithy saws concerning,

The worth of astrologic learning.-Hudibras, pt. i. c. 3. Since God did not make them [the stars], nor any thing else in the world, singly for themselves alone, but also to contribute to the publick good of the universe, their physical influence seeming inconsiderable, they knew not well what else could be worthy of them, unless it were to portend human events. This indeed is the best sence that can be made of astrological prognostication; but it is a business that stands upon a very weak and tottering, if not impossible, foundation. Cudworth. Intel. System, p. 5.

More wonders typical impress the sky, Then e'er was trac'd with astrologic eye!

Brook. Man of Lawe's Tale, modernized.

Images astronomically framed under certain constellations to preserve from several inconveniences, as under the sign of the Lion the figure of a Lion made in gold, against melancholic fancies, dropsie, plague, fevers.

Id. Cases of Conscience, Dis. 3. c. 2.

And, what was ominous, that very morn
The sun was enter'd into Capricorn;
Which, by their bad astronomer's account,
That week the virgin balance shou'd remount.
Dryden. Hind & Panther.

Why should he halt at either station? why Not forward run in unobstructive sky? Can he not pass an astronomic line? Or does he dread th' imaginary sign? Blackmore. Creation, b. ii. This was also for the sake of such as are not very conversant in astronomical matters and dimensions. Derham. Astro-Theology, Prel. Discourse.

The old ascetick Christians found a paradise in a desert, and with little converse on earth, held a conversation in heaven; thus they astronomized in caves; and, though they beheld not the stars, had the glory of heaven before them.-Brown. Christ. Mor. ii. 9.

My opinion of astronomy has always been, that it is not the best medium through which to prove the agency of an intelligent Creator: but that this being proved, it shows, beyond all other sciences, the magnificence of his creations. Paley. Natural Theology, c. 22. ASTRUCTIVE, Adstruo, Adstructum. opposed by Hall to Destructive.

Well

The true method of Christian practice is first destructive, then astructive; according to the prophet, cease to do evil, learn to do good, this our Apostle observes; who first unteacheth us ill fashions, and then teacheth good.

Bp. Hall. Sermons, Rom. xii. 2. On Strut. See STRUT.

ASTRUT. What good can the great gloton do wt his bely standing a strole like a taber, and his noll toty with drink. Sir T. More. Workes, p. 98.

Inflated and astrut with self-conceit,
He gulps the windy diet; and ere long,
Adopting their mistake, profoundly thinks
The world was made in vain, if not for him.
Cowper. Task, b. v.

See ASTONE.

ASTU'N.
Our Henry Hotspur next, for high achievement meet,
Who with the thund'ring noise of his swift courser's feet
Astunn'd the earth, that day, that he in Holmdon's strife
Took Douglas, with the Earls of Angus and of Fife.
Drayton. Poly-Olbion, Song 18.

The vain stroke from such an height, With such a force impell'd, headlong drew down The unwieldy champion; on the solid ground, He fell rebounding: breathless and astunn'd, His trunk extended lay. Somerville. Hobbinol.

ASTUTE. Lat. Astutus, from the Gr. Aσru, a city. As Urbanus is applied to those who have the polished manners of an inhabitant of a city