178 



But connected with the root RI, are another set of words conveying 

 tlie idea of onward motion without the idea of moisture entering in. 

 Such are "run," "range," "rank," "array," "arrange," "reach," 

 " stretch," the French " rue," and our own word " row." We now come 

 to the most important form of the root ''reg" "to make straight," a 

 stem which enters most largely both into our own and other languages. 

 For a person who makes and keeps things straight, we have in different 

 languages the terms " rajah,'' rex, roi, rey, and others.* The same 

 element is found in " bishopnc," " Alanc," and perhaps in the ending of 

 such words as Orgetorix, Vercingetonx, &c. Now " reg'' or " rig,'' 

 meaning " to make straight," " red" or " right" will be the past 

 participle, signifying " made straight," or in its substantive form " that 

 which is made straight." It is worthy of remark that the French term 

 " droit" has precisely the same primary signification. The words them- 

 selves teach us the great lesson, that the right course is ever a straight- 

 forward one, and that, morally as well as physically, the straight Hue is 

 ever the shortest, f 



And as the word "right" means straight, J so its opposite, "wrong," 

 means crooked, or turned aside from the straight way ; for " wrong," 

 as well as "right," and many other adjectives,§ is properly a past parti- 

 ciple coming from the verb " to wring," the root being the " wri," found 

 in the words micry, writhe, Merest, wrench., wreath, and others of that 

 family. Here again, too, similar analogies are found, not only in the 

 Italian " torto," and the French " avoir tort,"\\ but also in the words 

 ''error," " pravus," and ''pervert," all of which convey the idea of a 

 deflection from the straight-forward course. 



The next word I shall take is the term " Virtue." Speaking of it Mr. 

 Carlyle remarks : — " Virtue, (properly manliness, the chief duty of man,) 

 meant in old Rome power of fighting, means in modem Rome connoisseur- 

 ship, in Scotland thrift." The Greek apETi} is, as we all know, the exact 

 equivalent of the Latin virtus. IF Connected with dpeTij, we have also 



*We might add stich words as " regent," " rector," " ruler," " sovrcign," " viceroy," or the 



names Filzroy, jRoyston, and perhaps Surrey, {i.e. Sudn'ce the South Kingdom,) and tho 



Latin words sur^o, porrigo, per^o, Aust-ria (i.e. ^ster-reich). 



+ Archimedes defines a straight line as " the shortest line between any two given points." 

 t " St" is the element of stability. Of the intensive form of s we have examples in " i>ike * 



and " apike," "mash" ^nd "smash," "lash" and " «lash,' "spine" and "spear," from the 



root " pi," and many others. 



§ So " strong " is the past participle of the verb " to string," " tolld " of " to will," " odd " 



and " oion " of " to owe." 



U " Torto" and " tort" are from " tortus," the p«wt participle of the Latin " torqueo." 



IT Verstegao, in his " Restitution of Decayed Antiquities," connects the German " Tu- 



gend" with our words "thews" and "doughty," making it also mean strength or valour. 



This, however, like many other of his derivations, appears quite untenable. 



